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1 2 3

Clothed With the Sun

OR,

FROM OLIVET TO THE GATES
OF GLORY.

nEING

A HISTORICAL SIMILITUDE,

IN WHICH

I GENUINE CHRISTIANITY IS PERSONIFIED IN THE FORM OF A
* (^OOD AND BEAUTIFUL WOMAN JOURNEYING

THROUGH A WILDERNESS THAT IS FULL OF DANGERS,

AND WHERE SHE FINDS MANY

DEADLY FOES.

I I

By rev. JOSEPH H. HILTS,

Author of " P:xi)eriences of a Backwood-s Preacher," "Among the
Forest Trees," etc., etc.

TORONTO:

PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR I!Y

WILLL\M BRIGGS, WESLEV BUILDINGS.

1891.

Entered aocordlng to the Act of the Parliament of Canada, in the year
one thousand eight hundred and ninety-one, by Rev. Joseph II.
Hilts, in the OlHco of the Minister of Agriculture, at Otlawa.

INTRODUCTION.

THE many words of commendation that liave been accorded
to my books already publisiied have led me to conclude
that the people of this country are wilbng to give some
attention to the production of authors whose brows are
encircled by no academic laurels, and whose names are sup-
plemented by no scholastic symbols.

Acting on this conclusicjn I have written "Clothed with
THE Sun." And for it is solicited the same kind consideration
that has been given, by a generous public, to its two
predecessors, '' E.qx'riotces of a Backwoods Preacher," and
'' Amomj the Fared Trees/'

"Clothed with the Sun" is a historical similitude in which
true Christianity is personified in the form of a good and
beautiful woman, to whom is given the name of Ecclesia.

Under the Old Testament, the Church was called the
" Daughter of Zion," a woman ; and under the New Testament,
the Church is called the "Bride, the Lamb's Wife," also a
woman, so that the Church, being symbolized by a woman, is
not a new or far-fetched idea. Many of the events recorded
in secular and ecclesiastical history are presented as the
experiences of Ecclesia in her long joui y from Mount Olivet
to the Gates of Glory ; and these incidents found in history are
claimed as the fulfilment of prophecy respecting the New Testa-
ment Church.

The book of Revelation contains a symbolical programme of the
actions, experiences and sufferings of the true Church, or the

I NT no DUCT [ON.

Liiiiib's wifo, during her progress through the centuries. John
gets this ])r()gr;innue by object-lessons or symbols, and he gave
it to tlie Cluircli in word-pictures by describing the things that
he saw.

These prophetic symbols are explained in " Clothod with the
Sun," and the events that they represent are v.oven into the
story of Ecclesia's doings and suHerings, so as to make the book
read like a woman's biography. In the ex])lanations given two
facts are kept in view. One is, that a sj'mbol found in the
prophecies always means the same thing in its main features, so
that by tinding out what it means in one place, you have the
key to its meaning in all phices. The other fact is, that prophecy
is only history written beforehand, so that the statements of
history are the safest commentary on pro[)hecy.

Mr. Deeming, the interpreter, is intended to represent the
office of the Christian minister as a teacher ; and the exi)lana-
tions that he is supposed to give from time to time are ])elieved
to be in harmony with the laws of human nature and the facts
of history, and not at variance with common-sense and with
sound theology.

The persons, institutions and systems that are represented as
having a place on this prophetic programme, are now, or have
been in the past, living factors and moving forces that have
ailocted the interests of the Church and the destinies of the
nations.

These are named and located by the interpreter, and their
effects upon Ecclesia and the cause she represents, as well as
their influence on general society, are pointed out.

In the prophetic narrative we have a sealed book described,
and also the opening of the seven seals, and there are seven
trumpets sounded and seven vials poured out, making twenty-
one distinct events that occur in a regular chronological order,
and each of them producing certain efiects on the cause of
Christianity or on one or more of its many foes.

And as time passed on, other symbols came on the scene and
claimed a place on the divine programme. A woman clothed

INTRODUCTION.

• ••
111

with the sun is seen in the symbolical lieaveii. Then in the
same heaven tliere appears a red dragim, liaving seven heads
and ten horns. And then a beast is seen t> arise out of the sea
with seven heads and ten liorns, and to him the di-ai^on transfers
his seat (or throne), his power and great autliority. And hiter
on, the same beast is seen with a rider on his l)ack — a lewd
woman, and she is drunk with Wood of saints. And next a beast
is seen to arise out of tlie earth liaving two horns like a lamb,
though he speaks with the voice of the dragon, and exercises all
the power of the first ])east. These are all explained by the
interpreter in harmony with the system of interpretation, to
which refei'cnce has been made.

In working out these inter})retation8 the conuuentators have
not afforded nuich helj). Having such varying systems for the
explanation of the symbols, one of wiiich is sometimes made to
represent half a dozen diiierent things, they are all at sea, and
seem only to add confusion to the reader's wonderment as ho
attempts to follow them through the labyrinths of their imaginary
fancies. And the most of them have been hampered by national
prejudice, or by their creed, or by denominational influences, or
by the bias of educ:»ti(»n. Protestants have sought to concentrate
fill the terrible denunciations of the pro])het on the Roman
Catholics, as though they were the embodiment of all the mean-
ness and wickedness that is foreshadowed by these symbols.
And the CatlK)lics have tried to find all of this, and much more,
in Protestantism.

Now, while it is true that Roman Catholic State-Chui'chism
will have to take the lion's sliare, it is e(iu;illy true Moham-
medanism and Protestant 8tate-J[^hurchism will both come in for
their i>art when the time of retribution arrives, for they are both
syndjolized in these prophecies.

David Robertson, minister of the Gosjiel at Kilmaurs, Scot-
land, gave a series of evening lectures on the Apocalypsn in
1819 and 1820, some of which had been written in 1811, and
in 1830 and 1831 he gave a series of evening sermons on the same
subject. These discourses were published in three volumes in

INTRODUCTION.

1833, and were not very warmly received, on account of the
radicalism of the author's sentiments, both as regards Church
and State. The fact is, the author had ja-ojected himself
seventy or eighty years ahead of his time. He will be more
appreciated in the next century than he was in his own day.
In 1882 this work was presented to me by a son of the author,
viz., the late Peter Robertson, merchant, Kincardine, county of
Bruce, Ontario.

After carefully reading the work, I came to the conclusion
that Mr. Robertson had furnished a key to the symbolisms
found in Revelation ; and his book has been used as a key in
working out the explanations put in the mouth of Mr. Deeming.

Now, in conclusion, if "Clothed with the Sun" had been
written as a piece of Church history, it would have found but
few readers ; and if it had been written as an exposition of the
book of Revelation, it would in all probability have been buried
under mountains of learned theological criticism.

But by putting the work in the form of a historical similitude
it is hoped that many readers will be found conning the pages
that contain the story of Ecclesia's journey. And it is believed
that theological and literary critics will show their gallantry by
treating with manly courtesy and gentlemanly consideration the
" Woman Clothed with the Sun."

Joseph H. Hilts.

April, 1891.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

Chaptkr I. — Parting Counsel

Work to be Done — Words of Love — P^nemios to be Met — A
Constant Warfare — Anothci' Woman — Unstable Friends
— Not Left Alone — A Sad Parting.

Chapter IF.— Friendly Consultation ....

Ecclesia Meets Her Attendants- Spirits Dein-essed — Words
of (!lieer — Cause of Human Sulferin^' — Successful Effort
— Venerable Strang'ers— Valueless Systen)s— Hopeless
Prisoners -Mercy and .Justice Meet — Glad Tidings —
Offer Accejjted — Many Made Free.

Chapter IIL^Encouraging Results

Magnified Difficulties — Minimized Blessings — A Rejected
Otter — Doubtsome and Fearsome — An Excited City —
Fals(^ Imprisomnent — Preacliing in Court — Threats of
Officials.

Chapter IV. — Clouds Gathering

An LTnexj)ected Deliverance — A Mucli-Desired Conversion
— Hope for the Gentiles — Palsy Cured — Death of a
Needle-Woman — Called liack to Life — Paul's Labors —
A Beleaguered City.

Chapter V. — The Clouds are Thickening

Love of Home— T'le Song of Hope — The Roman Eagles —
Unwelcome Visitoi\s — Mr. Braveheart — Dismissed In-
truders — Another Sur])rise — Last Visit to the Temple —
Farewell Song — (Jethsemaue and Calvary — Judaism and
Christianity Compared. .

Chapter VI. — Homeless Wanderers

Going to the Gentiles— Oft' to Egyi)t — Ccmservatism of the
Egyptians — Three Strongholds — More Persecutifms —
Boctks Found — The Prophet Comes — Truth's Questions
— The Rights of Woman — An Impostor Described.

PAOK

CONTENTS.

1 1

Chaptkk VII. — Symbols Kxi-lained

Tnitli's I{cs]H(iisil)lt' Mission- A Hook of WoiultTs — Mr.
Dct'iiiiiig tlicf Intt'i'i>r('t('r — Kulcs of Tiitcrpictiitioii —
Symbols luid l'iiriil)lt's (/oiiiicircd Tliiii|,'s that Now
Arc - Trujiin's (Miaiif^'c of Policy — JA'tiiiitioii of the
Church— Caudli'sticks and Stars.

Chapter VIII. — A Sealkd Book

John in Heaven— The Beasts in Heaven — The Now Sonj? in
Heaven — WIkj Can Open the Book — The Lion of Judah
— Man an Kpitonu; of All Creation — A Visitor from
Rome — Nero's Torches — Nero's Song.

CHAI'TKR IX. — A CoNQUERINli HoRSKMAN

First Seal Opened — A White Horse !Uid His Rider — Chris-
tanity as a System — Church Work- Teaching by Sym-
bols — A Red Horse - Imperialism — Its Persecuting
Work— The sanu^ in All Ages and in All Countries — An
Appeal to History.

Chai'ter X. — The Dark Horseman

The Balances — The Proclamation — The Defection of tli(>
Clergy— Spiritual l''amine— The Enemy Named Kccle-
siasticism — Tiie Mm of Sin — Test of History.

Ciiai'tkr XI. — The Roan Hor.se

Another Enemy — Claims Relation to all Three of His Pre-
decessors — Kills with Sword, Famine, Pestilence, and
Wild lieast- His Name is State-Churchism — Paganized
Christianity the Worst Enemy of all Protestants of the
Fourth Century — History Again.

Chapter XII. —Disappointed People

Ecck^sia much affected- Fiftli Seal Broken -Souls lender
the Altar — Call for Justice -Characters Vindicated —
Servius Comes from the 15islioi)s — ]<'ulsome is Sent by
the Emperor — Ecclesia Refuses to Join Hands with
the State.

Chapter XIII. — Sadne.ss and Lamentation.s

Sixth Seal Ojiened— The Sun Darkened— The Stars Fall—
The Moon Turns to Blood — The Mountains Remove —
The Heaven ] >e])art8 — The Terror of Pagans — Was
Constantine a Christian — Ecclesia's Final Decision.

Chapter XIV. — Coming Events Foreshadowed

Between Two Storms — More Wonders — All Parties B.affled
— Sealing God's Servants — Last Seal Opened — Scathing
Fire — Seat of Government Moved — A Saucy Prelate- -
A Penitent Emperor.

PAOB

ill

127

142

157

172

186

201

CONTENTS.

Chaitkic XV. -Kcci.ksia and tmk Df.auon . . . .

A Woiidir ill Heaven TIic Dragon- -Coiulitioiis of Cliurcli
Mciiilx'islii)) Heaven and the Heaven The Stars
'I'he Moon - (J(instuntine'.s i)(<iil)le Character — The
l)ra},'t'n'« Tail— The Falling- Stars.

Chai'Tek XVI.— The Ten-Hornem Ukast ....

A Ditiicnlt Subject— The King of Konie a Pagan Priest —
Daniel's Fourth Beast Not Identical with this One —His
Wounded Head - How it was Healed- lie Finds a
Rider -The Woman in Scarlet— Historical Test Again.

Chapter XVII Ik'CLEsrA (Joes to the Wilderness

Tlie Donatists and Novationists — Empire in the Breakers
-Miciiael Figliting the Hragon -Daily Saeritice Taken
Away- Keclesia Disfranchised— She Coesto the Wilder-
ness, as Siie Came Out of .Jerusalem, with a Sung.

Chapter XVIII.— Sounding the Alarm ....

Torn and Bleeding — A Burning Mountain — Mohannnedanistn
— Not J'agan, -Tew, or Christian^A Politico- Religious
System, or a sort of State-Churchism — Another 'I'rumpet
The Star Wormwood — St. Peter's Appeal to France.

Chapter XIX. — Darkness (xRowing Darker

Mr. Hatesham- -Bad Things Must Co— 'I'he Tide of I'A'ents
Changes — Another Tnnnpet — The Pope All-])owerful —
Historical Results Again — The World's Dark Midnight.

Chapter XX. — Blow for Blow

Euphratean Horsemen — A Return Visit The Aryans —
Gunpowder — Bajazet Defeats the Confederates — The
Turks to Rtanain in Europe 31*1 Years— God was Done
with them 1G72,

Chai'ter XXI. — The Two-Horneu Beast ....

Not the Ten-horned Beast but Very Much Like Him —
What Shall We Call Him-Protestant State-Churchism
— A Persecuting System — Instances to Prove it — Henry
VIII. and v^ueen Elizabeth.

Chapter XXII. — Long Years of Mystery

The Daily Sacrifice— The Court of the Gentiles— The Two
Witnesses— Killing the Witnesses- -The British Revolu-
tion — The Resurrection of the Witnesses,

Chapter XXIII.— Called From the W'ilderness

T)ruid Sacrifices — God's Great Mystery— An Angel's Oath— -
The Prince of Orange- The" First Vial— Ecclesia's Re-
miniscences— Tlie Prince of Orange Stands for Equal
Right to All and Special Favors to None.

r.'.oK
•217

232

24!>

203

279

2J)4

309

325

341

CONTENTS.

Chapter XXIV.— Days of Retribution - -

A Square Fight Between Christianity and Paganism Under
the Seals — All Changed ])uring the Trunijiets — The
First Vial Poured Out Brings the British Revolution — -
Second the French Revolution — The Tliird Cleanses the
Teachings of Protestantism — Liglit Increases Under the
Fourth Vial.

Chapter XXV.— The Days of Doom ....

Jesuits and the Inquisition — Fifth Vial, a Kingdom full of
DarkTiess — A Dried - up River — Armagcnldou] — The
Earthquake — The Mountiiin of the Lord, the Stone
Mountain of Daniel, and the Gospel Mountain, or Arma-
geddon, all the same thing.

Chapter XXVI.— The World's Noonday - . . .

The First Persecution was in Babylon — A. Wedding Song—
A Funeral Dirge — A Coronation Song— The Coming
Era — The Letting the Dragon Out of Prison — He Leads
the Army of Resurrected Sinners Against the Camp of
the Saints — The Final Judgment — Ecclesia's Song of
Victory.

PAGK

368

378

390

PAGE

368

378

390

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

CHAPTER I.

PARTING COUNSEL.

ID I understand thee lightly? Dost thou mean
to say that thiouo'li all the coming years of
trial I shall have thy presence with me ? Thou didst
speak recently of the persecutions and tribulations
that I shall meet v/ith in my journey through the
wilderness to the home that thou art to prepare for
me. Thou didst point out some of the things that
will oppose me as I try to do what thou hast com-
manded me to do. Wilt thou reallv be with me to
encourage me by the way, and to help me in my work,
while I persuade as many of my neighbors as possible
to go with me to the great city ?"

These questions were asked by a most beautiful
woman, as, standing on thf; top of an eastern mountain,
she looked tearfully into the face of her Lord, who
was on the eve of his departure to a far-off country
to receive a kingdom, and to prepare a mansion in the
imperial city for as many of old Adam's children as
would come along with his affianced wife to share in
the glories of that home of surpassing beauty.

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

Fixing upon the troubled face of the woman an eye
that was full of love and tenderness, he answered, in
a soft and reassuring voice, saying, ' Thou hast heard
correctly, Ecclesia. My presence shall go with thee,
j^ut not my corporeal presence ; for however pleasing
it might seem to thee to have me always visible to the
eye of sense, nevertheless it is expedient for thee that
I go away. But, ii' I go away, I will finally take thco
to myself, so that where I am, there thou mayest be
also. And again I say, thou shalt have tribulations ;
but be of good cheer, for I will l)e with thee."

" How canst thou be with me after thou hast gone
from me ? " inquired the woman.

" My words shall be impressed upon thy memory.
my image shall be stamped upon thy heart, and my
spirit shall commune with thy spirit. Be not troubled
about this. I will find a way to comnmnicate witli
thee, in all conditions, and under all circumstances, so
long as thou shalt remain true to me, and shalt follow
my directions."

She sobbingly replied, " Oh ! how could I ever he
untrue to thee ? Thou art to me the chiefest amoni;
ten thousand. Thy favor is more than life to me,
No ! no! I cannot think it possible that I should ever
be untrue to thee."

" Let not thy heart be troubled, l^^cclesia, neither let
it be afraid," he replied. " I shall never lose sight of
thee, though deep, dark valleys lay across thy path-
way, and high and steep mountains intercept tliv
course ; still my care for thy safety and thy comfort
shall be as ceaseless as my love for thee is undying,

"Wilt thou not tell me, my beloved," asked Ecclesia
" why is it expedient for me that thou shouldst f;
away ? It seems so hard to part with thee now, jii>t
at the beginning of a long and tedious and wearisoni'
journey through the wilderness, where I do not know
the way that I am to travel, nor do I know anythinf^ | tj
about the foes that I shall meet with on the road." \ 1

ill

PARTING C;OUNSEL.

an eye
jred, in
,t heard
th thee,
pleasing
e to the
hee that
xke thco
ay est be

aiations ;

ast gone

memory.
, and my
■> troubled
icate with
stances, so
lalt follow

1 ever he
est amoni;
it'e to nic,
lould ever

neither let
■^0 sight of

thy path-
ercept thy
\y comt'ovt

undyinii

d Ecclesia.

houldst go

now, jwst
wearisome

not know I

w anything^

le road."

" If I were to remain with thee," he answered, " my
liunian .sympathy would prompt me to provide for all
thy wants wnth such profusion that thou wouklst not
know what want means; and thou wouldst receive all
th}' supplies with so little care on thy j>art, that faith
would be a thing unknown to thee ; and having such
an abundance of good things crowded into the pre-
sent, thou wouldst forget to look into the future, and
hope would cease to influence thy actions, and would
die in thee. And where faith is dormant and hope is
dead love can hardly exist, so that thou wouldst be
found destitute of these three cardinal graces ; and
without the courageous strength of faith, the cheering
buoyancy of hope, and the enduring constancy of love
to accompany thee, thou wouldst be but poorly fitted
for what lies before thee."

" What Mdll be the nature of the difficulties that I
shall encounter? And who will be my opposers in the
wilderness / Will they be open enemies or secret
foes :*" (|ueried she.

"These difficulties will be of various kinds," he an-
swered. "Some of them will result from the weaknesses
and intirmities of thy human nature ; .some will ari.se
from the instability and uncertainty of everything
earthly, and others will be caused by the perverseness
and wickedness of those around thee. But by a
steady perseverance in the right, and a resolute refusal
to become entangled in the sinful or senseless customs
and pleasures of the world, many difficulties may
be escaped, and others may be overcome. But
always keep this in mind, that no trial can be so
severe, and no difficulty can be so fjreat that thou

' I/O

may est not bear up under the one and overcome the
other, by thinking of me and doing as my words
direct."

" Thy enemies will be numerous and powerful,"he con-
tinued. " They will be both human and satanic, visible

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

and invisible, open and secret. Men and devils will
hate thee because they hate me, and they will strike at
me through thee, for they will know that thcu art
dearer than my life to me. When thou art least ex-
pecting danger they will be plotting thy destruction.
When thou art least prepared for them they will be
dogging thy footsteps. They will come to thee singly
and in companies. Sometimes they will attack thee
by violence and at other times by flattery. When they
cannot terrify thee by threats and frowns, they will
try to entice thee by smiles and blandishments. If
they fail to conquer thee by force, they will try to sub-
due thee by professions of ardent friendship. Thou
wilt need unceasing watchfulness. Thy safety can
only be secured by exercising the patience of a Job,
the wisdom of a Solomon, the faithfulness of a Daniel,
the courage of a Joshua, and the earnestness of a
Jeremiah, for thy enemies are bent on thy destruction
in some way."

" How can I know my enemies when I meet them ?"
asked Ecclesia.

He answered, " Whoever or whatever shall in any
way influence thy mind against me is an enemy, either
openly or in disguise."

ENEMIES POINTED OUT.

" What classes of society will my enemies belong to,
and how will they make their attacks upon me ? " .she
inquired.

He replied, " They will be found among all classes
and in all conditions of life. From the beggar to the
prince, and from the slave to the emperor, thou wilt
meet with them; and from the huts of mud to the
palaces of marble they will come forth to oppose thee
in thy work."

" But why should I meet with so much opposition i

PARTING COUNSEL.

and ill-treatment from those whom I have never
harmed in any way ? I am sare that I would not,
knowingly and willingly, injure any person in the wide,
wide world," she said.

" As to that," he answered, " it is not what thou hast
done that will call forth their hatred and opposition,
but they will hate thee because thou wilt not join with
them in lighting against me. They hate me and all
that is mine."

"And why," she in([uired, " do they bear such malice
against thee ? What hast thou done to them that so
provokes their wrath ? "

"Hast thou not heard, Ecclesia," he answered, "of
the ancient enmity between my Father and their
father, and between my kingdom and their kingdom ?
I love light, but they love darkness. I love purity, but
they love pollution. I love freedom, but they love
bondage. I love holiness, but they lov3 sin. And I
love life, but they love death."

" How long since this warfare commenced, and how
and when will it end ? Canst thou tell me ? "

" It commenced when the angels rebelled and were
driven out of heaven. It can only end in the entire
overthrow of the powers of darkness. But when it
shall end has not been told," said he.

A HOPELESS WARFARE.

" What do they expect to gain by this warfare
against thee and thy cause, and why should they con-
tinue the strife so long ? " inquired Ecclesia.

" At first," he replied, " it seems they hoped to gain
the throne of empire from my Father, but being foiled
and driven out of heaven, mostly through me, they
have been carrying on a hopeless struggle ever since ;
and although they know that every rebellious act will
only sink them deeper into doom at last, yet they have

CLOTHED WITH THE SUX.

given themselves up to sin to such an extent that it
has becojT^.o a necessity of their nature to run into evil.
And is it not a stry nge thincf that man, who was made in
the image of his God, will follow such leaders to certain
destruction ? They have learned by a bitter experience
that 1 am their conquerer. In the last^ conflict they
marshalled all their powers and staked everything on
the issue, but when they thought that I was over-
thrown to rise no more, and just as they were pre-
paring to celebrate the victory by claiming my crown
and kingdom as their own, I rallied my forces, broke
through their lines, and scattered their legions in all
directions ; turning what they thought to be a great
victory into a disastrous and disgraceful defeat."

" Thinkest thou that they will ever try to carry war
into heaven again, or will they ever make another
attack upon thee personally ?" she inquired, with deep
feelin":.

He answered, " They will not again get near enough
to the celestial city to carry the battle to its gates.
And they were so signally defeated in their last effort
to conquer me, that they will hardly make another
attempt to measure their strength against mine in a
personal combat. Henceforth they will make their
attacks upon thee, and where thou art will the fiercest
battle rage. They will hope to conquer thee since they
cannot conquer me."

" And since thou only art able to withstand their
onsets, how can I expect to stand against them if they
came so near conquering thee ? Will they not
assuredly be too strong for me ? " she asked, falter-
ingly.

" Do not be deceived, Ecclesia," he said ; " I did not
say that E was almost conquered ; but they thought
that I was. They did not know that the arm that
they were trying to break is the arm that holds the
stars in their places. They did not understand that

i'AHTLNG COUNSEL.

the hand from which they were vainly trying to wrest
the sceptre is the hand that guides suns and planets in
their courses. And as to being able to withstand them,
thou art not to forget the race is not always to the
swift, nor the battle to the strong. The question as to
who is right and who is wrong is vastly n)ore impor-
tant in this contest than is the question who is strong-
est. God is always on the side of right, and they that
are right have God on their side, and they that have
God with them are always in the majority."

"Will my enemies always remain the same, or will
they change with times and seasons ? And if I with-
stand them in one mode of attack, will they adopt
new methods of hostilities ? " she inquired, with great
earnestness.

" They will vary their methods, as times and circum-
stances change " he replied. " And they will improve
every opportunity to worry thee, and persecute thee,
and destroy thee. When thy friends are few and poor
thy own people will cast thee off. When thou art
weak and apparently defenceless, kings and rulers will
persecute thee and kill thy friends. When thou art
prospenng and thy friends are many and wealthy, the
world and its people will fondle around thee and flatter
thee ; and when thou art succeeding in thy work
and many helpers olFer to assist in the work that
thou hast in hand, thy workers v/ill be bribed, by
otfers of wealth and position, to neglect thy work and
follow after vanities and empty titles and the pomp
and glitter of worldly grandeur. And the time will
come when those who do the greatest harm will be
held in the highest esteem by the world and its

people."

"And will
shall meet in
she asked.

the world be the only opposer that I
the form of human instrumentalities?"

CLOTHED WITH THE Stm.

ANOTHER WOMAN.

" Not by any means ! " he answered. " Numerous
forms of opposition and a great variety of agencies
shall make thy journey through the wilderness an
exceedingly unpleasant and dangerous one ; and when
thy work seems to be prospering, and many friends
have gathered around thee, an impudent impostor will
push thee aside and claim thy place, and the multitude
will forsake thee and follow the other woman, because
she will offer to them the fullest freedom in the pur-
suit of sensual pleasures and worldly objects. She
will become great and powerful, and kings and princes,
rich men and poor men, lords and nobles, statesmen
and scholars, priests and prelates, and merchants and
bankers, all shall accept of her and cast thee off.*
And of all thy enemies, this pretender will be the most
bitter and cruel. She wdll hate thee and persecute
thee in all places where she can find thee. Her very
brain will be a workshop for inventing instruments of
torture with which to torment thee and kill thy
friends. Her breath will be like the simoon of the
desert, that bligh*^^s whatever it touches. Her home
will be the grave of every good and holy aspiration,
and her teaching shall be like poisoned waters, in
which death is hidden.

" By her sorceries and her smiles and enticing words
she will captivate her dupes until she gets them in her
power, and then she will make them the veriest slaves
that ever lived upon the earth ; and when they find
their bondage grievous and try to break their chains,
she will lash them with a whip of scorpions until they
are forced to obey her."

" And why will she hate me so, and how can she be
so cruel ? " asked Ecclesia, while her voice trembled
with deep emotion.

■**■ See Rev. xvii. 4, 5.

I'AllTING COUNSEL.

" Because usurpers are always cruel and tyraniiical,
and by injuring a person, we in time come to hate the
injured one. The consciousness of the meanness of
such conduct keeps before the mind of the guilty
per.^on an image of the injured one, and in time that
image becomes hateful, and from the hating of the
picture it is an easy thing to learn to hate the person
rei)resented by it.

"And another reason for this liatred is found in the
fact that guilt always hates innocence ; and this woman
will hate thee because the lustre of th)^ blameless life,
shining on her actions, will make her character appear
not only heinous, but odious, even to herself.

" But, instead of repenting of her sins and forsaking
them, she will try to hide them ; and failing in this,
she will deceive herself into the belief that thou art,
in some way, the cause of her spiritual leprosy and
moral deformity, and hence she will hate thee with an
undying hatred. And while thou wilt be a standing
reproach to her, she will be a constant menace to thee."
He ceased, and Ecclesia replied :

" Thou hast told me much about my foes, wilt thou
not tell me something about my friends ? Will they
always be true and faithful ? Can I trust them at all
times?"

UNSTABLE FRIENDS.

" Yes," he answered, " I will tell thee of thy friends,
for I want thee to know just what may be expected
in thy journey through the wilderness. Many of thy
friends will be true to thee in all things. They will
stand by thee at all times, and, when necessary, will
die in the defence of thy cause. They cannot be driven
from thee by danger or persecution, nor can they be
enticed from thee by the prospects of ease or wealth,
or high position among men, or ihe pursuit of worldly
pleasures or worldly lusts, nor by anything else.

<'I,0T1IKI) WITfl THK SUN.

:it 'I

"Tliese will stand by tliee and help thee in thy
work. They will he the salt of the earth, a city set
on a hill, the liLfht of the world. But these will have
to endure much for thee and for the truths which
thou wilt teach ; and for the same reasons that thou
wilt be hated by that other woman, these will be hated
and opposed by the world and its people. Do not
forget, Ecclesia, my enemies will be thy enemies, and
tlie enemies of thy frientls also. And moreover, these
are all the tnendes of my Father, who is greater than
all."

" But wliy should they be his enemies, since he has
always been (food to them, and has never harmed
them in any way ? " asked she, in surprise.

" They hate my Father because they know that his
laws condemn their ways, and they find fault with the
law-maker, and justify their actions by complaining
that the laws are too strict, and the author of them
too severe ; for sinners of all kinds are disposed to
throw the blame of their punishment upon the makers
and administrators of law more than on themselves,
who are its violators.

"But while a part of thy professed friends will be
true to thee, another part will be false to thee. They
will profess to love thee ; they will promise to be very
diligent in thy work ; they will pretend to be very
active in thy service ; and until the time of trial comes
it will be difficult to tell who are the true and who the
false. They will seem so much alike in many things
that, like thy wheat and tares in the same field, they
can be fully known only when their real character is
allowed to develop itself. And just when thou wilt
need them most, and when thou art hardly able to do
without them in resisting the onsets of thy many and
mighty foes, will be the time when they will desert
thy cause, and show their real character. When their
desertion can do the most harm will be the time chosen

PAUTINf} COUNSEL.

by them to leave thy work and turn their backs upon
thee. When their leaving thee and ^ou\(f over to thy
foes will help them most, thy false friends will join
thine enemies. "

" Will those traitors be found amonj( the leaders of
my people, or will they be persons of humble posi-
tions in the ranks of the workers in my cause ?" she
inquired.

'hey will be found," said he, " among all classes ;
• '<t >* itly among those in high position, and persons
oi '>>' . e or less influence with their associates. Such
will be more exposed to the temptations of the world.
Being persons of note, special efforts will be made to
induce them to desert thee and go over to the enem3''s
ranks ; and some of these traitors will be among the
most daring and ungenerous of thy opposers. Having
turned their backs upon thee, they will do all in their
power to lead others to follow their example. And
being acquainted with thy people, they will know
who the weak ones are, and hence they will be better
able to do thee harm than they could have been if
they had never been among thy friends."

With an anxious and uneasy look, and with a chok-
ing voice, Ecclesia answered:

"How shall I ever be able to stand in the face of
so many difficulties ? Open foes and false friends
combined to oppose me and to destroy me, will most
assuredly be too much for me to withstand in my
long and wearisome journey through the wilderness.
Can no other way be found by which the beautiful
city may be reached ? Must I and all my friends
pass over a road so dangerous, or never reach that
home of beauty and delight ? "

With tenderness and love manifested in the tones of
his voice, he replied to her questions :

" My way is the only way by which the city can be
reached. And to the true and faithful the way through

rit'

CLOTHED WITH THE STTN.

Mii;

the wilderness is not so very dangerous, after all that
may be said about it. To be sure, there are rivers to
ford, mountains to scale, valle3'S to cross, various foes
to meet, and difficulties to overcome. But I shall
leave my footmarks all the way through the desert,
and by following my track thou wilt be f^afe. And,
as to the opposers who will try to intercept thy way,
thou must remember that I have conquered every
one of them, and they cannot conquer thee so long
as thou trustest in me. In my name thoii mayest
triumph over all of them, and even death itself cannot
harm thee then."

" Canst thou not send an escort to protect me and
my friends in the times of danger ? " she asked.

He answered, " Thy best protection will be found
in obedience to my commands, adherence to my cause,
and perseverance in my work. Thy safest escort will
be the teachings of my word, wh^ch shall be attended
by an invisible presence that will go with thee to the
end of thy journ<^y. But for thy comfort and con-
venience I will give thee a seer and an interpreter.
When an thing of importance is to come upon thee,
or when some new enemy is about to attack thee, the
seer will give thee warning of it by presenting a pic-
ture or image of the fresh adversary. And the inter-
preter will explain the thing to thee so that thy plans
may be laid for safely withstanding the onset. Be-
sides the seer and interpreter, I will send along with
thee for companions thy four friends. Truth, Faith,
Hope and Love. With these for thy companions and
daily associates thou canst hardly be lonesome by the
way. And with these at thy .side continually, thou
wilt be all the better able to keep the right path and
to bear up under the burdens that may be laid upon
thee. For if, under the pressure of adverse circum-
stances thou shouldst be tempted to practise deception,
Truth will speak words of caution to thee. If thou

!illi

PAUTING COUNSEL.

shouklst at any time become afraid to trust my words
of promise, Faith will speak to thee and warn thee
against the sin of unbelief. If, when the clouds are
thick and dark, thou shouldst be inclined to yield to
despair, Mope will point to the beautiful bow that
spans the clouds, and will tell thee that the sun still
shines and the worst of the storm is past. And when,
in thy intercourse with the cold and selfish world,
thou art in danoer of becominor cold and selfish,
Love will speak to thee in tones of melting ten-
derness, reminding thee of the sufferings and sorrow-
ings that surround thee. With these for thy attend-
ants thou canst not be unhappy."

" Canst thou tell me how long I shall be in passing
through the wilderness, and will my lot be a hard one
all the way through ? "

" The time of thy stay, and tlie length of thy years
upon the earth, is one of the secret things that is not
fc • thee to know^ Ecclesia," he answered ; " but there
will come a time when, to escape thine enemies, thou
wilt flee to the wilderness. Thy stay there will be
for the period of twelve hundred and sixty days. Thy
seer and thy interpreter will let thee know when the
time comes for thy flight, and also for thy return.
But thy stay on the earth will be a great deal longer
than that; thy passage through the world will be more
or less hard all the way. But it will not be equally
difficult at all times. But thou nnist not forget that
thy work in the world will not be done until the time
that I shaU come to take thee with me. But when I
come I shall find thee waiting for my appearing ; and
thy journey through the wilderness will be ended, and
thy exaltation to a place beside me on my throne will
follow, as the reward of thy faithfulness in doing and
suffering my will in this world."

" Will the world ever cease to fight against thee and
thy Father and me ? " she asked.

■^'Dji;

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

" Not entirely," said he. " There will be some that
will not accept of thy teaching so far as to live in
obedience to my laws. But they will be few, and their
influence will be small. People generally will be so
decidedly in my favor that a sinner will be a disgrace
to himself and his friends ; these will look upon him
as healthy people look upon a man who is a leper, as
one to be pitied but still to be shunned." He con-
tinued, " The time has come, Ecclesia, that I must take
my departure. Do not forget my parting counsels.
Be faithful to the end, and my blessing be with thee.
Farewell ! "

She looked, and he was disappearing in a mist or
cloud that seemed to settle down upon the mountain.
With a feeling of sadness and eyes red with weeping,
Ecclesia slowly came down from the place w^here she
would gladly have stayed forever, if only her Lord
and Master could have tarried with her. To her the
world never had looked so gloomy and creadful before.
As she descended the hill-side she sung to herself in
mournful accents, and with an inaudible voice :

" T must pass through a country so sad and so dreary,
I must journey alone o'er this wilderness land,
Till I come to a place where the way-worn and weary
Find comfort and rest on the heavenly strand.

" I must walk through the desert, not hearing nor heeding
The growling wild beasts that along my path lay,
1 must pass through dark valleys with hands and feet
bleeding,
lieing torn on the briars and thorns by the way."

ne that
live in
id their
II be so
iisgrace
on him
eper, as
He con-
ust take
counsels,
ith thee.

mist or
ountain.
weeping,
here she
ler Lord
) her the
i\ before,
erselt' in

ary

leeding
3 and feet

CHAPTER II.

FRIENDLY CONSULTATION.

WHEN Ecclesia came down from the mountain
.she repaired to an old city that stood about a
mile from the place where she had parted with her
Lord. Here she met her four friends and others who
were attached to her. With these she formed an
aureement that thev would all remain together until
the time should come for her to enter upon the work
committed to her hands.

Her mind of late had been so preoccupied with the
thought of the absence of her beloved Lord, that she
had not fully realized the greatness of her task and
the weight of the burden that rested on her shoul-
ders. She had only thought of the loneliness she
should feel when left alone in the world ; but now she
had time to think the matter over, and to take a sur-
vey of the field that she had been lett to cultivate.
And what met her view, as she scanned the scene of
toil, was enough to make her feel her inability for
such a work.

Not only was the field a large one, but it was also a
rough one ; and to this must be added the hardness
and unevenness of the ground to be broken up. And
more than this, there were great difficulties to be over-
come before the work of cultiv^ation could be properly
commenced.

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

Larjje boulder.s that had been hardeninof in the sum-
mer suns of centuries, covered the soil so thickly, that
in places they seemed to almost crowd each other.
Great stumps of the foruier occupants of the ground
stood like monuments of effete and departed systems,
uttering their voiceless protests against any invasion
of their possessions. Thorns and thistles disputed the
right of soil with the groat variety of noxious weeds
which covered the ground with a coat of many shades.
Som6 of these bore beautiful flowers, which arrested
the eye of the beholder, and made it seem almost like
vandalism to destroy them. When all these elements of
discouragement are taken into account, it is no wonder
that Ecclesia should look with feelings of dismay upon
the scene of her future struiXijles, and .should shrink
back, and say, " Who is able for this work ? All this
rubbish to be taken out of the way before I can do
anything. Surely my task is too great for my
strength." And she sat down and wept as though her
heart was crushed and hope was dying within her.
Such an array of difficulties as never before had met
the gaze of any toiler was enough to dishearten one of
more self-reliance than she possessed. And yet this
was the work that her inexperienced hands must do.*
This was the task given her to perform.

For some length of time she sat in her abject grief.
Presently a soft hand gently touched her shoulder,
and a sweet voice spoke her name.

Looking up, she saw a pair of bright eye , that
seemed to sparkle with buoyant cheerfulness, fixed
lovingly upon her. Hope had stepped up to her un-
noticed, and it was her eyes that met Ecclesia's when,
in response to the touch and the call, she lifted her
head.

* A very inade(i[uatc picture of the workl that the Church was
tokl to evangelize.

ii'ii

FRIENDLY CONSULTATION.

" We d'-e here," said Hope, " to try and help you.
Seeing our mistress, for such we call you, in deep
trouble, my sisters and myself have come near to speak
words of comfort to you."

Church was

CHEERING WORDS.

" I am sure," said Ecclesia, " that I need some words
of cheer to drive away the gloomy feelings that weigh
so heavily upon my heart. W hat could be more dis-
couraging than is the outlook, when I try to forecast
the future and see such mountains of difficulties rear-
ing their lofty summits across my way ? "

'' Mouutaina and moleliills are the same
To Him, who bids the work be done ;
And trusting in His <<lorious name,
Our foes we van(juish one by one.

" Looking to Him we need not fear,

Though mountains tower and reacli the sky,
For He with lielp is always near
To those who on His words rely."

Such were the words that Faith, with a sweet, clear,
ringing voice sang to her troubled mistress. And as
she ceased, Ecclesia seemed to catch the sentiments of
her friend's utterance, and repeated, as if to herself,
the last line, saying, •' To those who on his words
rely."

She continued, " I had almost forgotten his promise.

He told me among the very last things that he said to

nie, that he would never lose sight of me, no matter

ihow dark the shadows might be that fell across my

)ath, nor how deep the valleys might be through

[which I had to pass. It is strange that 1 should be so

forgetful of his blessed promise."

"Though the road be rough, and although the work
)e hard, yet it is pleasant to toil for those who are dear

CLOTHED V/ITH THE SUN.

I III II \i

ii !,

!il|||:

to US. And what can be more deliofhtfiil than it is to
do the will of him who has been so very kind and good
to us. The work that he has given you to do is his
work, but the benefits of it will be for others. By
obeying him you will lift ti.e burdens that set so'
heavily upon the throbbing i.'^art of suffering hu-
manity." This time it was L( ve that spoke ; and
when she touched upon the suffe "ings of humanity her
voice trembled, and her eyes filled with tears.

" Humanity suffers because humanity has sinned,"
said Truth, who till now had been a silent listener.

" That is well spoken," answered Faith ; " and if
humanity will listen to your teaching and yield to the
sweet influences of our sister Love, then our beloved
mistress will have no difiiculty in opening the door of
the prison in which Justice has shut up the guilty, so
that our sister Hope may enter to cheer and comfort
those who sit in .sadness and thickest gloom."

" And, oh, how willingly I would go into the darkest
dungeon if I might carry light and gladness with me,"
replied Hope. "I would lift up the desponding and
the perishing, if only I might have access to their
lonely dwellings. But with stern, judicial aspect the
door of their prison is so guarded by one whose glitter-
ing sword is uplifted to strike whoever might attempt
to enter there without the password written in blood.
And there is only one hand in all the world that can
write that password, and that is a bloody hand."

"Yes," said Truth, "and there is, in all the world,
only one heart that can empty all the treasures of its
love upon such unworthy objects as those prisoners
are, and that is a pierced heart."

" What is that password ? " asked Eccelsia, with
earnestness.

" He hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to
proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the
prison to them that are bound," answered Truth.

FRIENDLY CONSULTATION.

" And if the prisoners are willing to hear this and
accept it as a message from the king, then the door is
open, and Faith and Hope and Love may all freely
enter the prison and bring them out, so that you may
take them and train them for citizenship in the great
city."

" Oh," said Love, " how good it would be if we could
take these poor, unhappy and sinful creatures, and in-
riuence them to a better way of living than is the life
of a condemned convict, and lead them at last to a home
in the glory land."

A Sb'CCESSFUL EFFOKT.

" I think," said Ecclesia, " that it is time for us to
prepare to commence the work that has been given us
to do. We will all go together to the gate of the
prison yard, and see if we can gain an entrance. If
we succeed in this, we will then try the door that
opens into the prisoners' rooms. If we can only get
among the inmates of the prison, and if they will let
us do it, we will soon break their fetters and set them
ree.

Love inquired what kind of fetters were on these
unhappy prisoners.

Truth replied, " There are various kinds. Some of
them are inherited from their ancestors — such as gen-
eral depravity and inherent tendencies to certain
kinds of sin. Some of these fetters are placed on
them by society, and are the result of surrounding
inliuences, such as customs and maxims, and false
teachings in regard to duty and destiny. Others are
forged by themselves and placed on them by their own
acts, such as vicious practices and sinful or filthy
habits, and a voluntary submission of their will to the
i wicked one, that they may be led captive at his will.
jBut whatever may be the kind of fetters that bind

ft-

i :•

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

1 ^

1
1

! 1'.

them, or whatever their cause, they may be made free
if only they will accept the teachinf^s of Truth, and
will allow Faith and Hope and Love to abide in their
presence."

After some further conversation, they all proceeded
to the gate of the prison yard. Ecclesia walked in the
centre, Truth was in front of her, and Faith and Hope
on either side, with Love following behind. She chose
this position because, she said, " Love always prefers
others to herself."

When they came up to the gate they saw standing
by the side of it four old men, with hair white as wool
and long, flowing beards. They were venerable to look
upon, and there seemed to be a look of sadness and
disappointment upon their faces. These men were
each ditl'erent from the others. One was white, one
was black, one was a reddish-brown rand the other
tawny.

As Ecclesia came up one of the old men addressed
her, saying, " Fair lady, whither goest thou with thy
maidens, and what seekest thou in this place ?"

" I come," she answered, " with a message from the
King of the great city, for the unhappy creatures shut
up in yonder prison. Myself and my friends are seek-
ing admission to the inner prison that we may deliver
our'message, which is one of glad tidings to them if
they will receive it."

" We," said the man who had spoken before, " are
the representatives of the family of man. We all
have friends in the prison. We would fain make them
free, but we have no means of meeting the demands
that an officer of the prison, called Justice, makes upon
them. We have been long here, and we have tried
every way in our power to bring Justice to terms of
agreement ; but we have all failed to do so."

" Who are you, and where do you all come from ? "
asked Ecclesia,

FRIENDLY CONSITLTATION.

" I," said one, " am a son of Shem, and in my family
have been found the leaders of the religious thought
of the world ; but no system has yet been devised that
will satisfy Justice. When I have pointed to the
Mosaic system, and have shown him the bleeding
victims and smoking altars of our religious service,
he has simply shaken his head, and said, * For it is not
possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should
take away sin.' And my friends are still in the prison,"
he said, in tones of sadness.

Another said, "I am a son of Ham, and I came
from the land of the Pyramids. But all the genius
and wisdom of those mighty builders have failed to
find any way to secure the freedom of our friends-^
they are still in prison."

A third said, " I am a son of Japheth, and I came
from the land of Homer, Herodotus, and Hippocrates — •
the home of poetry, philosophy and physic. But none
of our wise men have been able to find the means by
which to relieve our unhappy countrymen ; they are
still in prison, and the worst of it is, they are willing
to stay there. Having intellectual culture, they are
too proud to believe that any one can tell of anything
better than they already have."

The fourth said, " My home is toward the rising
sun ; my home is far away. My family, in its vari-
ous branches, vimbraces more than one-third of the
human race. We are widely scattered, and some of
my kindred are far down in the scale of nations.
We are called Turanians sometimes, and sometimes
Moguls or Mongolians. Our origin is somewhat doubt-
ful. We differ from the other races very much. We
i claim to be descended from Noah, a man who had
[large experience as a ship-builder and sailor, and we
think that our anc":'tors were born to him after his long
[voyage on a shore. Cr's sea. We think this because in
lis first dividing-up ot his large estate among his

CLOTHED WITH THE SUK.

three elder sons, no mention is made of us. And
further, we think so because of a tradition that we
have of an old man and his family who travelled east-
ward and founded a kingdom that still exists."*

During this conversation, the gate-keeper was an
attentive listener. When they ceased speaking, he
came forward with the key in his hand, saying, " My
sympathy for the suffering prompts me to open this
outer gate, through which you may all pass into the
prison yard, and may you be successful in persuading
the officer to open the door and let you bring out the
prisoners."

Here Truth came forward and said, " My mistress
has no need to use persuasion in the case of the officer
at the door. She has with her a command to go to
the prisoners, and that is from the King himself. It
is imperative, and it implies an obligation to open the
door and let her and her friends enter, and Justice can-
not refuse the ransom price that has been paid, which
fully meets all his claims. And, beside this, she has a
passport written with blood, which authorizes the
liberation of all the prisoners, so that Justice would be
unjust if he should refuse my mistress admission."

One of the old men said, " You spoke of a ransom
price that has been paid for the liberation of these
prisoners. What was this price, and by whom was it
paid ? "

Truth replied, " Your questions are very natural
ones, but to fully explain all that is involved in the
case would take too much time at present. But in a
word, these prisoners had violated the law. The
penalty for transgression was very heavy. Justice was
very stern in demanding the execution of the law in

* Some ancient historians say that Noah was so displeased by
the growing wickedness of his sons that he went off and foiuid
China.

FRIENDLY CONSULTATION.

5. And
;hat we
ed east-

was

dng,

tig. '" My
pen this
into the
rsiiading
f out the

mistress
he officer
i to go to
[iself. It
open the
stice can-
id, which
she has a
rizes the
would be
sion.

a ransom

of these

Dm was it

y natural
7ed in the
But in a
iw. The
istice was
)he law in

ispleased by ' j1
F and found

the infliction of the penalty on the guilty, and our
sister Love interceded and asked for mercy to be
shown, and when it was proposed to redeem the con-
demned ones by giving an equivalent, Justice fixed the
price so very high that the case seemed to be a hope-
less one. But at length, in response to the pleadings of
Love and Mercy, Wisdom devised the plan by which
the demands of Justice could be fully met, and the
King himself provided the redemption price. Now,
Justice can not only consent to the liberation of the
prisoners, but he can join with Mercy in asking for
their release."

When Truth ceased speaking, Ecclesia said, " We
will present our passport at the door of the prison, and
if all is well, we will at once enter upon our work of
leading out the prisoners."

" Dear mistress," said Faith, " be bold and coura-
geous in your work, and trust in the promised presence
of your Lord, and you shall be more than conqueror in
every conflict."

Love spoke up, saying, " My heart seems to be
already warming towards these poor sufferers. I am
thinking the time long until our dear mistress shall
commence her mission of proclaiming liberty to the
captives, and the opening of the prison to them that
are bound."

By this time they had reached the prison door
where stood Justice with unrelenting aspect. He
looked with sternness upon the company that was now
composed of Ecclesia and her attendants, with the four
old men, who were interested listeners to all that was
said.

" Did I hear," said Justice, " some one speak of
opening the prison doors ? That is a thing that has
often been tried, but never with success."

As he spoke, the face of Justice seemed to become
I rigid as a face of marble — his eyes became passionless,

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

and his compressed lips betrayed an unbending deter-
mination to resist every effort.

I
i

liinih

iijlp

BUT JUSTICE YIELDS TO MERCY.

As he stood with his hand upon the lock of the door,
Ecclesia came forward and handed him a piece of
parchment, on which was the command to go into all
the world and tell the people of the redemption of the
prisoners of sin and death through the payment of the
price demanded. " Here," said she, "is my commission
and my passport, you will surely not withstand the
orders of my Lord the King."

Justice read the parchment, and turning it over, he
found written upon the back of it the words, " He
bare our sins in his own body on the tree. He suffered,
the just for the unjust ; and he died for our sins and
rose again for our justification."

The face of Justice became bright and sunny as he
turned to Truth, and said, " Are these things really
so?"

Truth answered, " Look at the margin, and you will
find the King's signature written with a bloody
hand, and below it in the same handwriting the words,
'For without the shedding of blood there is no remis-
sion.' "

The last trace of sternness left the face of Justice,
who now looked beautiful as an angel. He turned to
Ecclesia, and said, " I am satisfied ; my demands are
fully met. The door is opened ; go in to the world's
great prison-house, and unbind and set loose those who
were appointed to die. Tell them now that Justice and
Mercy both join in seeking their liberation. May your
loving labors be crowned with glorious success "

Ecclesia and her friends looked around them, and
were astonished to note the change that had come over
the appearance of their surroundings. The prison was

FRIENDLY CONSULTATION.

not only thrown open, but its massive walls Heemed to
be thrown do\vn,so that all restraint upon their actions
was f^one. They were at liberty to go wherever their
sense of duty led them.

But as they let their eyes roam out over the field of
vision, a sad and sickening scene presented itself to
their view.

As far as they could see, in all directions, was a
numerous host of piteous objects of wretchedness and
woe, and want. All ages and all conditions in life
seemed to be in the same state of unrest, and suffering
from the same hopeless afflictions. The old man and
tlie little child, the matron and the maid, the servant
and the master, the rich and the poor, the strong and
the feeble, the noble and the vile, the ruler and the
ruled, all, all alike, were carrying their burdens of sor-
row and sickness and pain, as the outcome of sin.

As Ecclesia stood contemplating the sad picture be-
fore her. Love came to her and said, with sighs and
tears, "From the crown of the head to the sole of the
foot there is no soundness in them; oh, how I long to
help these poor sufferers ! How gladly would I raise
them up into joy and gladness could I but do so."

Truth here spoke, and said, " Darkness hath covered
the earth and gross darkness the people. They know
not, neither will they understand. They walk on in
darkness ; such as sit in darkness and in the shadow
of death, being bound in afflictions of iron ; because
they rebelled against the words of God, and contemned
the counsel of the Most High."

"Yes," replied Faith ; "but, let the wicked forsake
his ways, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and
let him return unto the Lord and he will have mercy
upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly
pardon."

Hope here caught the word pardon, and she said :
"Were it not for the fact set forth by this one word, I

rl'

CLOTHED WITH THE SUX.

could never send one ray of light upon the darkened
pathway of a sinner ; but by the forgiveness of trans-
gression every obstacle is removed, so that to those
who are pardoned I can become like an anchor to the
soul, sure and steadfast."

" I am glad," said Ecclesia, " that you all understand
your parts so well, and I hope by your assistance,
along with the Master's help, to work great changes in
the conditions and prospects of the millions to whom
my mission calls me."

" I now see," said one of the old men, " why all our
'""stems have failed to satisfy tha demands of Justice.
We made no provision for the pardon of transgressions
in our teaching and worship. All our hopes for the
future were based on the idea that a man's sins were
punished in this world, and that, if there be another
world, his condition in it is not the outcome of the life
he lives here, so much as it is the result of the number
of the gods whom he adores ; so that the more altars
a man builds, the greater will be his chance to enter
the elysian fields, providing there be any such."

'' Our system, both of teaching a.^. 1 worship," said
Truth, " embraces the belief in human responsibility,
and future reward and punishment. We are confident
that our conduct here will affect our condition there ;
and because we believe this, we are greatly in earnest
about ourselves and others."

While this conversation was going on, the people
began to gather around them in crowds, having learned
that strange words were being spoken by the cov.iy>.wy
of strangers ; and as the numbers kept increasing .latil
some thousands were around them, they entered at
once upon their great mission.

THE OFFER ACCEPTED.

While Truth, who was the spokesman on this
memorable occasion, was speaking to the astonished

FUIENDLY CONSULTATION.

multitude, her words seemed to burn like coals of tire
upon the hearts and consciences of his hearers. Noth-
ini? like it had ever fallen on their ears before. She
told them of the fetters that bound them, and of the
long imprisonment of the race. She told them what
Love and Mercv had done for them, and of what it had
cost to open the door of their prison and to take down
its walls.

She informed them that the chains that bound them
now were mostly those of their own forging, because
emancipation from the guilt and thraldom of ances-
tral sins had been proclaimed when one of earth's
greatest prophets, as he stood on the banks of the
sacred river, cried, " Behold the Lamb of God that
taketh away the sin of the world."

Then lifting her voice like a trumpet, she said to the
multitude, " Listen to the words of invitation sent to
every one of you, ' Look unto me and be ye saved, all
the ends of the earth ; for I am God and there is none
else ; ' and again, ' Come unto me, all ye that labor
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest ; ' and
again, ' Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise
cast out.'

" Come, now, every one of you. Let the self-suffi-
cient Pharisee, who thinks more about tithe and
cummin than about faith and forgiveness, come.
Let the scheming lawyer, who thinks more about his
law-books and briefs than he does about personal
obedience to law, come and be saved. Let the har-
dened sinner, whose life has been one long series of
rebellion, lay down his burden and his guilt, and come
and be forgiven. Let the impulsive Peters, the clear-
headed Jameses, the affectionate Johns, the meek-eyed
Marys and the busy Marthas, come. And ye poor
afflicted ones, come. If ye have no feet to walk, ye
have eyes to see, and to you he says, ' Look ! ' Ye who
have no hands to lift up, yet ye have tongues to speak,

i!!i:!

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

and to you he says, ' Call upon me in the day of
trouble, and I will deliver you ; ' and if ye can neither
walk, nor see, nor speak, you have hearts to feel, and
to you he says, ' In the day that ye seek me with all
your hearts, 1 will be found of j'ou.' "

When Truth stopped speaking the vast audience was
swaying like a forest shaken by a mighty wind. Men
and women were weeping like children. Some were
crying for mercy, others were shouting for joy and
gladness. When she sat down, thousands rose to their
feet, as if by common consent, to testify their deter-
mination to accept the invitation to become free, by
renouncing all the hidden things of dishonesty and by
following after that which is good.

The four old men were astounded at what they saw
and heard, for among the crowd of people were some
of their own countrymen. These had been carried
away by the mighty words of Truth to which they
had been listening, so that they were among the num-
ber of the new adherents that Ecclesia and her friends
gained in this their first effort to carry out the Master's
orders, and call the world to a higher and happier way
of living, and to a brighter and more hopeful future
prospect.

Presently the four old men entered into conversation
among themselves concerning the things that they
saw and heard.

Nahor, the Shemite, said, "In all my past life, which
is now more than four-score years in length, I have
never heard such words as we have listened to to-day.
Henceforth my lot, for weal or for woe, shall be cast
with these people. My friends have long been look-
ing for some wonderful person who should change the
aspect of society and redeem Israel, and I believe that
what we witnessed to-day is a proof that he is come."

Nebo, the son of Ham, replied, "These locks of
hair on my head are white with age, yet I have not

*
'§

FRIENDLY CONSULTATION.

seen and heard anything like this. The pillars and
tombs of Egypt give no records of words so strange
as we have heard to-day. I have strong hopes that
the people of Egypt and Ethiopia may yet be free."

Nearchus, the Japhethite, spoke and said, " I have
crossed wide oceans, and visited lands far apart ; I
have mingled with men of many countries, and heard
the languages of different peoples, yet the words that
have fallen on my ears this day are the most remark-
able and thrilling words that I ever heard ; and the
strangest thing of all is the fact that in my own
tongfue I hear these new ideas set forth."

Ningta, the Mongolian, said, " My mind is eclipsed,
my tongue is paralyzed, my eyes are dazzled by the
seeing and the hearing of this day. My people have
outgrown their religion and are beginning to despise
all their teachers, and every man is trj^ing to find out
a way of his own and to invent a god for himself.
But although among my people are found some very
low types of humanity, yet I believe there is hope for
them, if what we heard to-day is true."

Ecclesia and her friends closed their first day's work
by chanting an impromptu song of encouragement :

" Tlie Lord who has this work begun,
Will make it spread from shore to shore,
Till sin and woe are found no more
Beneath the eix'cle of the sun.

" Then let us all fresh eourage take,
And strip and harness for the fight —
And lalior on with all our might,
Sinee all is for the Master's sake."

f i

;l I

CHAPTER III.

ENCOURAGING RESULTS.

AVING commenced their work with such en-
couraging tokens of success, Ecclesia and her
friends resolved to press onward with all possible dili-
gence. Feeling that the success of their efforts depended
on prompt and faithful service, more than on numbers
or personal influence, they committed themselves fully
and without reserve to their task.

And the effects of their first engajjement with the
powfci\s of the world stimulated them to put forth
stronger efforts to bring the people out of darkness
into light, and out of bondage into liberty. They had
already seen enough to convince them that a strange,
mysterious influence came upon the listeners while the
words of Truth and Hope and Love fell upon their ears;
an influence that seemed to take them by surprise and
con(i(uer them as by magic. And the strangest thing
of all seemed to be found in the transforming eft'ects
of this mysterious force. Under it the proud sons and
daughters of wealth and affluence became willing to
associate with the hard-handed children of toil. The
profound scholar could mingle, without repugnance,
with the unlettered and ignorant. The master and
the servant could kneel at the same altar, and the
mistress and her maid could eat at the same table. A
persf n who had been known as the Naj^arene had re-

i: I

ENCOURAGING RESULTS.

cently proclaimed the doctrine of brotherhood amoncf
his followers, and had condemned all class distinction.*
But to reduce such teaching to practice in every-day
life is no easy cusk, until the pride of wealth and posi-
tion is taken out of the hearts of men and women.

But enough had already been done to convince the
candid mind of Ecclesia that in the fulfilment of the
command of her Lord she would become a great bless-
ing to the world. And being greatly encouraged by
what had been done, she determined to call up all her
energies and exert all her powers in the ^Derformance
of duty. And in order to do this most successfully,
she assigned to all of her friends the part to be taken
by each. Truth was to show the people their errors
and sins ; Love was to convince them that this was
done in kindness, and not in a spirit of censoriousness ;
Faith was to lift them up out of the regions of doubt
into that of belief and trust ; and Hope was to shed
light and beauty upon their future prospects. When
these plans were announced by Ecclesia, and as her
friends learned what was to be expected of them, they

HAD SOME FRIENDLY DISCUSSION

as to the comparative difficulties of their duties. And
in this conversation it was made apparent that none of
them fully understood their strength. They had not
as yet tested their powers by actual contact with
opposing forces ; but they were all agreed that each
should help the other in all possible ways, so that their
chances of success were much better than they would
be if separate and independent action had been
determined on.

" My work," said Truth ; " will be of an unthankful
kind, so far as exposing wrong-doing is concerned.

ill

* See Matthew xxiii. 8-12, where this doctrine is clearly taught.

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

j I :

People hate to have their sins and follies pointed out
even to themselves. Hence I shall often be blamed
unjustly, and censured when I ought to be com-
mended.

" That is true," replied Love ; " but then, my sister,
do not be at all disheartened. Think of the orreat
advantaoe it is to know the truth, for the Master said,
' The truth shall make you free.' And he also said
that ' when the spirit of Truth has come, he will guide
into all truth.' Is it not a blessed thing to lead the
people out of darkness into light, and lift them from
wretchedness and ruin into joy and gladness ?"

" And my work," said Faith, " will be very much
affected by the success or faihire of sister Truth. It
is my duty to lead men into belief and trust. Now, I
could not honestly tell them to believe what I. knew
to be false, or to trust in what I did not know to be
true. I will stay close to sister Truth in our jour-
neyings and labors, and as soon as people show a
willingness to listen, I will inspire them to believe and
trust."

" You will need my help, too,' said Love, " for Truth
' worketh by love.' But my work is so nearly allied
to the work of mv sisters, that I seem to have but
little to do aside from helping them. And this is all
right, for it is my delight to serve others when I can.
Whenever people receive the truth ' in the love of it,'
they have need of me, and when they find faith
springing up in their hearts, they have need of me, for
I am Faith's instrument in purifying their natures."

" My work," said Hope, " will sometimes be very
difficult. I shall often have to fight with a monster
called Despair. Ho is old and crooked, and lame, but
still he is hard to conquer, for it is wonderful how
quickly he can move about, although a cripple, and it
is astonishing what a load he can carry, although so
old. Always he carries about a load of optical instru-

■«5T

ENCOURAGING RESULTS.

merits by which to delude people. By placing one
sort of a glass to a man's eye, everything will be mag-
nified, and by using another kind of glass, everything
will be minified. In this way people's trials are made
to look like mountains, and their blessings are made
to appear like grains of sand. I shall have enough to
do in saving men anJ women from the delusions of
this monster, because

"Men looking through these glasses see
Nothing as it ought to be,
Till with fainting hearts they say
Everything has gone astray.
Then the work that I must do
Is to try and lead them through
All the gloomy regions where
They might sink into despair."

" And who could ask for a nobler work ? " responded
Truth.

" I see," said Ecclesia, " more than ever, the impor-
tance of the duties that each of you has to perform in
helping me to fulfil my mission in the world. Let us
all do what we can, and whatever comes, let us keep
together and be true to each other and to him who
has given us our work to do."

" Aye, aye ; let it be so," replied each and all of them.

pi. Hit

A REJECTED OFFER.

Soon after the conversation above noticed, Ecclesia
saw two men approaching. They came hobbling
along as though their feet were very sore. They both
had long staffs, on which they leaned heavily. In fact,
they seemed to be unable to stand without something
to hold them up. As they came up, one of them said,
iQ a low, soft voice, " Fair lady, we have heard of these
four lovely maidens and their beautiful mistress. We
have been told of the work that you are engaged

41K

CLOTHED WITH THE

in. We know something of its ^ers, and we have
sought you out to ofl'er our friendly oiHces, as we
think we can be of great service to you."

" Ecclesia and her friends were not prepossessed in
favor of the men. They did not like their appear-
ance. Something whispered to Ecclesia to beware of
alliances with strangers.

Truth was the first to speak. She asked them their
names and whence they came. One of them answered,
" We came from the land of false pretensions, the home
of shams and deceptions. We are well informed in
all the arts of the hollow-hearted and bare-faced
deceivers that are met with in the world. We are
twin brothers, and are members of a numerous family.
My name is Fearsome, and my brother's name is
Doubtsome. You may have already observed that my
knees are weak, and I may tell you that my brother
has sore eyes, so that he cannot bear a very bright
light. So we keep at a safe distance from danger,
and never go where the light is too strong."

Ecclesia said, " I do not see in what way you could
be of service to us in our work."

" We would be of great service to those to whom
you minister, if not to you," replied Fearsome.

" In what way ? " inquired Ecclesia.

" I," said Doubtsome, " would keep people from be-
lieving too much."

" And I would keep them from expecting too much,"
remarked Fearsome.

Here Truth came forward, and with great earnest-
ness said, " Dear mistress, do not have anything to do
with these impostors. Do you not see how they would
embarrass our work. One of them would interfere
in the work of Faith, and the other would paralyze
the efforts of Hope ; and whatever tends to hamper
people in their belief of truth, and to weaken their
trust in promises, and to minimize their expectations

tJNCOURAGINO RESULTS.

of future ^ood-will, in the nature of things neutralize
all our etlbrts, and render full and complete success an
impossibility."

" The younfT woman is too censorious," spoke up
DoubtHome. " I think a little more charity for peo-
ple's opinions would become her much better than the
unfriendly words she has just uttered."

" Charity," said Love, " can cover a great many
things ; but even charity itself cannot ignore stub-
born facts. Your brother has just now told us that
you have sore eyes, and cannot bear the light very
well. My sister Truth has eyes as bright as a sun-
beam, and as strong as the eyes of an eagle. Would
not reason say that she can see things more clearly
than you can."

" We only wish to avoid extremes by taking a mid-
dle course of moderation," answered Fearsome ; " and
in working out this plan, we teach men to believe
nothing that they cannot comprehend, and to trust in
nothing that they have not tested. Is there anything
wrong in that ?"

" Simply this," replied Truth, " if men are to believe
only in what they fully comprehend, and trust only
what they have fully tested, then there is no place for
faith in anything beyond their own knowledge and
experience. On this theory, all transactions that de-
pend on the words or promises of others would be
ruled out ; and faith and hope would be banished from
the world. 'But without faith it is impossible to
please God.' " *

THE CASE DECIDED.

"I am convinced," said Ecclesia to the two men,
"that we have no need of your assistance in our work.
Truth is our chief speaker, she tells the people what
they are to believe ; Faith helps them receive the truth,
and trust in it; Hope fills them with fond anticipations

J'-'!!

i''"tfini

»!!!:

ill

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

of future good, and Love begets in their hearts feel-
ings of deep gratitude for unmerited favors freely
given. Tliey show their love to the Giver of these
■ mercies by obedience to his laws. They become co-
workers wdth him and fellow-workers with us in ful-
filling our mission of love and mercy to the world."

" Well, lady," said Doubtsome, " if we are not per-
mitted to work with you, we will have to do what we
can in our own way, and on our own responsibility.
You will find out in time that our influence over men
is not to be despised. You will hear from us again."

" I expect opposers and enemies," she said ; "and if
you range yourselves among them and fight against
me, that may be my misfortune, but it is not my fault.
I have my directions to follow, and it is not left for
me to make doubtful alliances or to adopt questionable
methods in doing my Lord's work."

" Be it so," replied Doubtsome ; " but remember that
my brother and I have many friends, and we shall use
our influence with them to get them to oppose you in
your exclusive notions."

With this threat, the two men turned and went away
toward the setting sun.

" There will be trouble with these men yet," said
Truth ; " but it is safer to meet their opposition than
accept their help."

" Help such as they would render would do more
harm than good ; and, if I am not very much mistaken
in the estimate that I have put on them, they are the
representatives of a band . of very bad enemies who
will do all in their power to hinder us," said Ecclesia.

" They say that they belong to a numerous family,"
replied Truth.

" Yes," said Faith, " and I noticed the sneering look
that passed between them when our mistress declined
their oifered assistance, and as Doubtsome said you
will hear from us again. It seems to me that the way

1!!

ENCOURAGING RESULTS.

he spoke the word us, it must mean more than two. But
let it mean many or few, our business is to go straight
forward in our work, and leave our enemies and opposers
to be dealt with by our defenders."

AN EXCITED CITY.

As Ecclesia and her attendants were one day
approaching the gate of the city, they heard a con-
fusion of voices, and, as they looked up the principal
street, they saw people hastening toward a large
building that stood on an eminence. Everybody seemed
anxious to get there before his neighbor, and all the
people were trying to outrun each other in the race.

" What has happened ? " inquired Ecclesia of two
men who ran past her just after she had entered the
city.

The men did not stop to answer her question ; but
one of them called back to her, after they had gone
some distance from her. She could only understand
one word of what he said ; that was the word tnirade.

Passing on till she came to a street corner, she fell
in with an old, venerable looking man. " Rabbi," said
she, " could you tell me what the people are running
together for ; has anything unusual taken place ? "

" A miracle has been wrought on a man that never
walked a step in all his life, and the man is well known
to all the people of the city, and thousands from all parts
of the country who frequently come to the city to
attend the festivals. This man is now past middle
age, and he has sat at the gate called Beautiful from
his boyhood, seeking help from those who might pa^s
by. And this morning, about the middle of the fore-
noon, two plain-looking men, who were dressed like
fisherman, were walking past the cripple. As they
did so, he asked for help. They stopped and looked
at him for a few seconds ; then one of them said to

'll;it" i

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

1 ii''

I'll

him, ' We have no money to n;ive yon, but we will do
what we can for you. In the name of the Master
whom we serve, arise to your feet and walk.' And the
lame man arose to his feet and began to walk and leap
like an athlete, to the astonishment of all the people."

The old man continued, " There was one of the rulers
of the people who came alont; just when the man told
the cripple to rise up and walk ; he rushed up to the
speaker, and in anger, said, ' Thou impostor, thou
Galilean fisherman, durst thou offer such an insult to
a poor helpless creature ? Wilt thou mock his miseries
by pretending to remove them ? Does not every one
know that the pretended worker of miracles is dead,
and has been ever since the last Passover, when the
Romans killetl him ? '

" But while the ruler was speaking, the lame man
sprang to his feet, saying, ' Impostor or no impostor, I
am cured,' and got up and did as I said before."

Ecclesia and her attendants went forward in the
direction that the throng was moving. Presently they
saw the man who had performed the cure on the
cripple, and she at once recognized him as one who
had acted a very prominent part on the day when she
commenced her mission, and so many were led to
join with her.

She went up to where the men were standing in
the midst of a group of friends. When they saw her,
they saluted her and sho returned the salutation, and
then she said to them, " I am very much delighted to
meet with two such honored servants of my Lord, and
I hope you may both be spared for a lorig and faithful
service in his cause. We are all really workers to-
gether with him in tryinsf to save and bless the world."

" That is true," said Cephas, " and in suffering, as
well as in work, we shall be one. The world will hate
us and try to destroy us, because we belong to him
whose kingdom is not of this world, and because we

ENCOURAGING RESULTS.

have a good hope for an inheritance that is incor-
ruptible, iintJctiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved
in heaven for us."

The people, meanwhile, gathered around the man
who had been cured. Many questions were asked of
him, which he was unable to answer. But every one
knew that he had been a cripple all his life ; and every
one could now see that he was cured.

While the man was trying to satisfy the people's
curiosity, an officer of the Sanhedrim ca«ie forward,
and

MADE A PRISONER

of the man who had cured him, and led him off to
prison. The men who witnessed the arrest uttered
some protests at the way the man was treated, more
especially when a second officer came and took his com-
panion and led him away also. The crowd follov/ed
the officers and their prisoners to the gaol door. Some
of the more resolute ones offered to assist in a forcible
rescue. But tlie man Cephas entreated them not to
attempt anything of the kind, urging thnt he deserved
to be treated roughly as a punishment for his own
cowardly ingratitude on a late important occasion,
when he not only refused to speak for his friend and
benefactor, but he had actually denied being at all
acquainted with him. The men were locked up for
the niglit, to await the meeting of the Sanhedrim next
morning.

As the news of the miracle sprea<l through the city,
people came in crowds to see the man who had been
cured of his lameness.

At the usual time, in the morning, the court assem-
bled. The prisoners w^ere brought in tied together.
As the presiding judge looked upon them he recog-
nized them as persons whom he had seen among the
followers of the Nazerene the day that he had driven

ili! .

iU,

111!

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

the money-changers and merchants out of the temple.
With a stern aspect and a knitted brow, he turned to.
Cephas, and said, " Thou apostate from the teachings
of Moses and from the faith of Abraham, what hast
thou to say for thyself ? Thou art here charged with
practising magic in the cure of an old cripple. What
hast thon done and how hast thou done it ? Answer
quickly, or b}' the beard of Aaron, I will smite thee on
that blasphemous mouth of thine."

" Neither by human nor by satanic power, nor yet
by magic or incantation has this thing been done," was
the calm reply of Cephas.

" By what agency, then, has it been done ? " demanded
the judge.

" By divine power through human agency," was the
laconic reply.

"And by what means was the power and the
agency connected ?" asked the judge.

" By faith in the name of one who was murdered by
the Jews and Romans not many weeks ago," was an-
swered.

" Look here, man ! " said the judge, in anger, " dost
thou mean to insult the court by telling us this work
has any connection with the navie of that Galilean
impostor, whom Pilate told his soldiers to crucify?"

" I mean to say, that by faith in the name of him
who was crucified and slain through the malice of
the Jews, with the connivance of the Romans, it was
done ; for every one knows that Pilate only yielded to
the Jewish clamor, for the blood of an innocent person,
after he had been threatened with being reported as
an enemy to Caesar. Then he washed his hands, as he
said, from the blood of this just man, and handed him
over to death, as a lamb in the hands of its slayers,"
was the fearless answer of Cephas.

" Thou art a bold apostate to talk like that to men
who have thy life in their hands," said the judge.

lifl

ENCOURAGING RESULTS.

Cephas with many words spoke to the members of
the Sanhedrim, warning them of the danger that lay in
their way, and exhorting them to turn from their old
superstitions to serve the living God in spirit and in
truth.

" We might condemn thee to death, or to perpetual
imprisonment," said the judge ; " but we fear that
pul3lic opinion would not su^^tain us in imposing such
a sentence upon thee ; therefore, if thou wilt promise
to abstain, in the future, from doing as thou hast done,
we will let thee go."

" We cannot but obey our orders," said Cephas ;
" and when God speaks, men should keep silence. We
cannot but testify to the things that we have seen and
heard."

" Go ! " said the judge, " and see that thou art not
brought here again."

As the men came out of the hall of the Sanhedrim,
Ecclesia and her attendants were waiting to speak to
them.

" Thou hast done well," said Truth, " in this
thy first encounter with our opposers. I am pleased
that thou hast stood up for me in the face of threat-
ening danger, and I am glad that thy courage has not
failed thee."

" Yes," said Cephas ; " I did better this time than I
did on a former occasion, when I became a coward, and
told falsehoods in the presence of a crowd of people,
scared by a servant girl."

" You needed my help on that occasion," said Faith.
" If you had been more strong in your faith you would
not have shown such weakness of character, neither
would you have thrown away such an excellent oppor-
tunity to bear a noble testimony in favor of truth ;
but that is passed, and cannot be helped now."

"If I had been with you," said Hope, " I think I
might have saved you from taking such a despairing

ii'H

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CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

view of our Master's cause as to lead you to deny him
in the presence of his foes."

" Or," said Love, " if you had been favored with my
presence, you would not have given pain to our dear
Master, by turning from him in the hour of severest
trial ; for love beareth all things and endureth all
thinofs."

" I am hourly becoming more fully convinced," said
Ecclesia, " of the great necessity of the strictest unity
among ourselves. We are all more or less dependent
upon each other. This should teach us to bear one
another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of the Master.
But we shall need all the strength that we can get in
the conflicts that await us, for I feel that what we
have seen and heard to-day are only the prelude to a
terrible onset, and the first blasts of the coming storm."

Ecclesia beijan to attract the attention of her neiffh-
bors. Both friends and foes beofan to recognize her as
a person of growing notoriety and increasing influence,
so that she could no lontjer be ignored in the commu-
nity. Her friends were every day becoming more
numerous, and around her were gathering the very
cream of the population. The steady light of her
pure and holy life shone like a bright star, sending
its rays into the surrounding darkness. Her warm-
hearted benevolence and unostentatious kindness,
together witli the sublimity of her moral precepts, and
the excellence of her exemplary life, all together gave
her a potency in society that made her the object of
admiration to her friends and of jealous hatred to her
enemies. Coming thus into public notice, she could
hardly expect to be allowed to go on in peace, to the
renovation and elevation of humanity, so long as the
leaders of societ}'^ were in sympathy with the low and
impure.

After Cephas and his companion were dismissed
from the court, they attracted much attention wher-

ENCOURAGING RESULTS.

ever they went. Public sentiment was strongly in
their favor. After the curing of the lame man, many
were intluenced by them and their friends to leave
their worldly, sinful ways behind and start on the
journey to the Great City to which Ecclesia and her
associates were travelling. This only intensified the
feeling of hatred among the opposers, and made them
more determined than ever to crush the movement at
all hazards.

Not long after this, one of Ecclesia's friends came to
her, and said, "Your enemies are on the move. They
have put Cephas in prison again, and he will doubtless
be put to death, as our dear brother Stephen was a
few days ago."

" Is Stephen dead ? " inquired one who stood by.

" Yes," replied the messenger ; " the Jews cast him
out of their city and killed him, while he was praying
for his murderers.

"They must have come from the most ignorant
class of the people," said the questioner.

" By no means," was the answer ; " or, at least they
were not all of that class ; for I know as a matter of
fact, that one of the finest scholars in the city, a pupil
of the celebrated Gamaliel, young Saul of Tarsus,
stood by and kept the coats of the men, and encouraged
them in their murderous and cruel work."

" I have heard of that young man," said Ecclesia.
" He is said to possess one of the finest intellects in
Asia ; but the bitterness of his hatred to the new
religion is said to be so great that his very breath is
like a blighting mildew upon the infant cause."

" What a pity," said Truth, " that such a man is not
on our side. What a champion he would be in our
cause ! "

"Well," answered Hope, "he may yet be one with
us, since all things are possible with God."

u -i

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

"Amen; so let it be," said Ecclesia, who retired for
the night, after having sung the following :

"We bring our burdened hearts to Thee
Great Three in One and One in Three ;'
NVe ask Thee now some way to find
Into that proud young Hebrew's mind,
That he with us may soon be found
Spreading the glorious light around. "

CHAPTER IV.

CLOUDS GATHERING.

Iffl

WE closed the last chapter with the death of
Stephen and the imprisonment of Cephas ;
but between these two events dark deeds had been
performed by the enemies of the new religion.

The calm and logical James had been coolly murdered
by the king, and the people took this as a signal for a
general attack upon Ecclesia and her friends, so that
everywhere they were abused and ill-treated. Young
Saul had grown into a most active and cruel persecutor,
going everywhere and making sad havoc wherever he
went. The bitterness of his hatred was equalled only
by his activity and energy in trying to destroy the
objects of his hate. Everywhere his name was a
synonym for feverish restlessness in the work of per-
secution. The dread of him spread through the land
among the adherents to the new faith. Whenever he
made a forward movement, it was for the purpose of
finding other scenes for destructive operations. When-
ever his footsteps were heard, they were mingled with
the cries of distress from the victims of his cruelty.
Whenever his hand was put forth, it was for the pur-
pose of striking down some hapless friend of the system
that he was trying to destroy. On he went, until he
subsequently met his match and his master on his way
to Damascus.

ij.

i~ 'i'i>

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

it iik

But to return to Cephas. When Ecclesia heard of
his imprisonment, she requested a number of her
friends to meet her at a convenient place where they
might hold communion together and spend the night
in prayer. They met at the appointed place, and
after securing safety from intrusion by fastening the
door, Ecclesia addressed the company to the following
effect : *' My cherished ones, we have need of fortitude
and firmness in our present time of trial. Dark days
have come to us, and I fear darker ones are in store
for us in the not distant future.

" In the death of Stephen and James we have lost
two able leaders, and our cause has been deprived of
two very strong supporters ; and the bravest of our
brave adherents is in the hands of our enemies. They
will show him no more mercy than they did the
others. Now the Master told me before he left me
that in all my trials I could depend on him for help,
even in the deepest gloom of night as well as in the
brightest day. What think you of sending up our
petitions right here for the deliverance of Cephas ?"

" Well-spoken words, dear mistress," said Faith.
" While our foes are calling on earthly rulers to help
them in their opposition to us, we will call on the
great King for help and deliverance, and according to
his word he will hear and answer us, for has he not
said, ' Call on me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver

you?'"

" Yes," said Truth, " and he further says, ' Whatso-
ever ye shall ask in my name it shall be given you.'
Now, if we ask for the deliverance of Cephas, the
Lord will hear us, and in his wisdom will find a way
to fulfil his own promise."

Who led that prayer-meeting we are not told. We
are simply informed that at the house of Mary, the
mother of John Mark, many were gathered together
praying. And while the fate of Cephas was weighing

CLOUDS GATHERING.

on their hearts, and while they were lifting their
hearts to God in prayer, the wished-i'or, but hardly
hoped-for answer came. Even before the amen was
said, Cephas stood at the door, knocking for admit-
tance. And when the quick ear of the damsel, Rhoda,
detected his voice through the door, she forgot to open
it in her joy. And when she told the people that
their prayer was so soon answered, they said she was
crazy.* When Cephas persisted in knocking, they at
last allowed the damsel to open the door and let him
in.

They then saw that the wings of the divine messen-
ger that brought the answer to their prayers had so
far outstripped the laggard movements of their faith
and expectations, t^at the answer came before they
believed that the request had reached the ear of the
all-loving Father. When Cephas related to them
what had been done for his deliverance, they were
filled with joy and gratitude to the great helper of the
needy, for such a clear proof that he could hear and
answer prayer.

" This," said Ecclesia, with tearful emotions, " is the
fulfilment of the promise that he made to me before
he left me ; he told me that in every trial, if I called
on him for help, it would be granted. Now, I am
more than ever certain that my position in the world
is not a hopeless one, although it may be a difficult
and trying one."

GOOD NEWS.

While they were rejoicing over the deliverL ,e of
Cephas, a man of Damascus came up to them and
said, " I am sent to tell you that the daring persecutor
is conquered. Saul is converted and is novv proclaim-
ing his adherence to the new religion in the oldest city

* See Acts xii. for the account of this.

■ii-r

ili 1

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

in the world, even in Damascus, and hundreds are
accepting the new ideas set forth in his wonderful dis-
courses. There is a force in his logic that makes his
words irresistible, and his fervor of spirit makes his
earnest appeals to the people reach the hearts and
consciences of many of all classes. He is, in deed and
in truth, a burning and a shining light,"

The news of the conversion of this proud Pharisee,
and the fact that he was already making his influence
felt on the side of right, filled Ecclesia and her friends
with great joy. They clasped hands in token of
undying attachment to each other. They pledged
themselves anew to faithfulness and fidelity in their
work. After many words of congratulation to each
other, they joined in a song of praise and thanks-
giving to the Ruler of earth and heaven. We give
a part of what they sung :

' ' Great Ruler of the world, to Thee
We bow the humble suppliant knee,
And with our hearts and voices, raise
To Thee a song of grateful praise :
Happy to know that Thou canst find
A way to reach all human kind ;
Bring down the haughty, raise the meek,
And save all who Thy favor seek."

" Who would have thought," said Hope, " that the
man who hated us and our cause with such cruel
hatred would ever become one of us ? Wi^'i such an
able defender of our precepts and practices we shall
be able to convince our opposers and subdue the
hatred of our enemies."

" Dear sister," replied Truth, " do not be over confi-
dent in this matter. The more we expect from any-
thing in this world, the greater are our chances of
being disappointed, and by allowing our expectations
to rise too high, the more crushing our sorrow when
we fail to realize our anticipations. I know, my sister,

CLOUDS GATHERING.

that you are apt to paint the future with many beau-
tiful shades of color, and make the very best of every-
thing that comes within the range of your clear-eyed
vision. But, my dear, it is well to mix a few sombre
hues with your brighter colors, lest your pictures
become too brilliant. And it is best to pluck a few
feathers from the wings of fancy, lest it soar too high
and get into the region of the unreal and the impos-
sible to us in this world.''

" I think," put in Faith, " that if there is a danger in
expecting too much, there is also a dangerous possi-
bility of expecting too little from the human instru-
mentalities that may from time to time be placed in
the field as auxilaries in this conflict. We contend
with forces that are visible and with forces that are
invisible, and the invisible forces operate through
instrumentalities that are visible and tangible. The
spiritual works through the corooreal, the superhuman
manifests itself through the human. We are con-
tending not only against principalities and powers in
their organized condition of existence, but we contend
with spiritual wickedness, or the wicked spirits who
are the pervading and moving forces, that urge them
on to oppose us in our good work.

" On our side also in this conflict, there are spiritual
forces working through human instruments. Only
ours are mightier than are the invisible helpers of our
foes. We have on our side the Great Ruler of all worlds.
He can use the weak things of this world to con-
found the mighty, so that it is folly to attempt to mea-
sure the potency of any instrument, however impo-
tent in itself, when it is wielded by the hand of Omni-
potence. This being the case, the man of whom we
were speaking may become * mighty through God to
the pulling down of strongholds of the enemy.' "

" Oh, I am so glad," said Love, " that the heart of
this young man has been changed from hatred to love,
5

*■ .

^i8

CLOTHED WITH THE RUN.

and from darkness to light. What he once destroyed
he will now defend, and what he formerly pulled down
he will now help to build up; I am rejoiced at this."
And Love's eyes filled with tears of gladness.

"lam told," said Ecclesia, "that the name of tliis
young man has been changed from Saul, which means
lent, to Paul, which means little. Probably this is be-
cause of the low opinion he seems to have of himself.
He calls himself the chief .of sinners, and says that he
is the very least of all the leaders in our cause.* It
seems that the heart that lately had room for a very
large amount of haughtiness and self-laudation, now
has room for as large an amount of humility and self-
abasement. 1 remember reading in an old book that
I love very much, that, 'he that humbleth himself shall
be exalted.' Now this young man's humility may be
only the preparation for great usefulness and high
honors. His work, I am informed, is to be among the
Gentiles, where he will find no paths that others' feet
have made, and where he will find no work that the
hands of others have performed. His is to be pioneer
work from first to last."

" Probably no man among all of our friends is so
well adapted to that kind of work as he is," said Truth.

"He has in him the elements that command respect
and secure success," replied Ecclesia.

" He has clearness of conception, fixedness of pur-
pose, honesty of intention, fervor of spirit, unflagging
energy, and an unbending will, all directed by an
intellectual force that has but few equals and no
superiors in the world of thought. Such a man is an
acquisition to any cause. Such a man is able to defend
our doctrines in the courts of princes, in the halls of
science, in the schools of learning, in the arena of reli-
gious disputation, and in all places where a defence is

* See 1 Timothy i. 15 ; and 1 Corinthians xv. 9.

CLOUDS GATHERIXG.

needed. I am truly thankful that such a man has
oeen given to us at the very time he is most called for."

" You spoke of this man going to the Gentiles," said
Love." " It fills me with joy to think that they are to
he invited to take the journey to the Great City as
well as we, who have hitherto considered ourselves as
the favored ones. But are you sure, dear mistress, that
there is not some mistake in this. Are these outcasts
really to be invited to share the glories of that pro-
mised inheritance ? "

Truth answered, " There can be no longer a doubt
on this point, Cephas has already carried the offer to
the Gentiles. Some of them have gladly accepted the
invitation, and are enjoying the same privileges that
we have. What a wide field of operation this opens
up before us. The many millions of the Gentiles to
be invited will require a great many messengers to go
into all the world and tell them the good news."

3li-

THRILLING TIDINGS.

While the little company were rejoicing over the
conversion of Paul, a messenger came from the land
of Dan, who told them of what Cephas had done in
that country, to the great astonishment of the people
livinof there.

As Cephas was journeying he came to the city of
Lod. There he came across a man who had been laid
up with paralysis for eight years. This man had spent
much money in trying to get cured of his affliction ;
but all to no purpose. Medicine did him no good.
He and his friends despaired of his ever being any
better.

When Cephas came to the man, he asked him if he
had ever heard of one whom the Jews and Romans
had crucified at Jerusalem, of whom it was affirmed
that he was risen from the dead.

CT.OTHED WITH THE SUN.

iEneas, for such was the man's name, replied that
he had been in Jerusalem when he was a well man ;
but since he was stricken with palsj' he had not taken
any interest in public affairs. There might have been
scores of people crucified and he hear nothin^^ about
it. But he once heard a man talking to some Egyp-
tians about a person called Jesus, who was crucified
under Pontius Pilate, and of whom some strange
rumors were afloat a few years ago.

Then Cephas said to Eneas, " This same Jesus mak-
eth thee whole. Arise, and make thy bed ! " and the
man was healed from that moment. Everybody was
surprised to see the bedridden man moving about
with all the sprightliness of youth. But still strcnger
things were about to happen.

In the neighboring city of Joppa, the President of
the first Dorcas Society in the world, was dead. The
needle-women and the widows were very sorrowful at
the loss sustained by their sewing circle in the death
of Tabitha. They were Christians — Tabitha had been
one, too. In their sore trial they wanted a Christian
minister. The nearest one they knew of was Cephas,
who was still at Lod, where hundreds were being con-
verted through his ministrations. A delegation was
sent to ask him to come and see the distressed disciples
at Joppa. After due consideration, he placed the con-
ducting of the revival work into the hands of a com-
petent leader, and went with the messengers to Joppa.
When he came to the house where the body of Ta-
bitha was, he was conducted to an upper room. There
he found a number of the women and widows, who
had been associated with the departed in the praise-
worthy work of clothing the destitute and feeding the
hungry. On the faces of these were many tears, and
from their lips fell many eulogies of the work and
character of the dead. Garments that her hands had
made for the children of the poor were shown to

CLOUDS GATHERING.

Cephas as an evidence of the usefuhieas of her life.
And while they wept and talked the heart of Cephas
was touched, and he felt a divine impulse come upon
liim. He went forward to where the dead w^omanlay,
and takini^ the cold and stiffened hand in his, said,
" Tabitha, arise ! " And from the home of departed
souls the life returned to the pulseless heart, and once
more set it in motion, sendinf^ the warm current of
blood through every artery and vein of the body.
On opening her eyes she saw Cephas, who assisted her
to her feet, and presented her to the astonished com-
pany alive and well.

All the city was moved at this wonderful event, for
Tabitha was well known and much respected by her
neighbors. As the result of this display of miracu-
lous power on the part of Cephas, many were led to
inquire into the teaching and the claims of the new
religion ; and, as had been the case in Lod, hundreds
were converted and joined in with Cephas and his
friends.

Ecclesia was very much pleased on hearing what
was going on in the land of Dan. She began to hope
that probably her path through the world might not,
after all, be so rough as she had feared that it would.
But in this she w^as mistaken, as we shall see further on.

EARNEST LABORS.

The same restless spirit that had given so much
energy to Saul while he was persecuting the adherents
of the new religion, now manifested itself in the young
man as Paul, the Apostle to the Gentiles. After his
conversion, on the road to Damascus, he commenced at
once to proclaim the doctrines and precepts of the new
faith with astonishing success. He commenced his
work of building up the cause in the same place where
he had intended to tear it down — in the city of

CLOTHED WITH THE SUX.

Damascus itself. Many of the people believed the
words spoken by Paul, and became converts to the
faith ; but it was there as it is everywhere, when good
is being done. The powers of darkness were let loose,
and the enemies of the truth commenced the work of
persecution, and carried it on with such vigor that
Paul escaped with his life by being let down from the
top of the walls in a basket by his friends. The gates
of the city were watched day and night to prevent his
escape, so determined were his opposers to destroy
him. When he got out of Damascus, he and his friend,
Barnabas, came to Ecclesia, at Jerusalem, to join their
lot with her ; but some of her people were afraid of
Paul, having known him only as a persecutor, but on
learning from Barnabas what he had done in Damas-
cus, they willingly gave him a place among them, and
for a number of years he was the most prominent per-
son in the number of Ecclesia's friends, as w^ell as the
most laborious and the most successful. His name
became like a household word in the churches of
Assyrir , Asia Minor, Phoenicia, Greece, Gaul and Rome.
He foui^ded churches in many cities, and was the most
scholarly person among Ecclesia's friends. But he
was not permitted to go on his way unopposed. At
Philippi he had many stripes laid on him, and he and
his companion were put in prison. He tells us that he
was in stripes and imprisonments — in stripes above
measure, in prisons more frequent— of the Jews, live
times he received forty stripes, save one. Three times
was he beaten with rods ; once was he stoned. Thrice
he suffered shipwreck. He was a night and a day in
the deep. He was in journeyings often ; in peiils of
waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by his own coun-
trymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city,
in peiils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils
among false brethren. Such was the story of his toils
and sufferings in few words, as he told it to his friend i
at Corinth.

CLOUDS GATHERING.

After this, Paul was sent from Jerusalem, as a pri-
soner, to Rome, where he died as a martyr to the faith,
under the Emperor Nero.

By this time the new faith had gained many adhe-
rents, both in Asia, and Europe, They were found
ahnost everywhere, and in all classes of society. From
Eoypt to India, and from the Persian Gulf to the
British Isles, there were to be found more or less of
those who, by this time, were called Christians. They
were hated everywhere, and still everywhere the num-
bers increased. They were hunted from place to place,
and still the}' became more influential as time passed
on. Hated by the Jews, despised by the Greeks, and
execrated by the Pagans, but still they were every-
where gaining ground. Opposed by fire and sword on
every hand and at every point, in spite of all they
went on their way, caring for none of these things.

From all directions came the tidings of success on
the one hand, and of the most determined opposition
on the other. Ecclesia was in doubt often as to what
would be the final outcome of all these conflicts. While
she and her friends were in consultation one day on
the prospects of final success to their cause, a man was
seen on the wall of the city, crying at the top of his
voice, '•' Woe ! woe ! woe to the city ! " People ran in
all directions. The confusion became so great that
the Sanhedrim was called together to consult on the
strange occurrence.

Ecclesia went into the temple. There the multitude
were startled by a man crying out in a loud voice,
saying, " A voice from the east, a voice from th^ west,
a voice from the four winds, a voice against Jerusalem
and the holy house, a voice against the bridegroom and
the bride, and a voice against the whole people." *

The people became much disturbed by this man's
cries, which is said to have been continued for seven

^i H

* See .Tosephus, ' ' Wars of the Jews, " Book VI. , chap. 5.

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

years, and they commenced when the city was in perfect
peace. Up and down the streets and lanes of the city,
by day and by night, this solemn cry was heard.
Many other strange signs were seen just before the
commencement of the war that terminated in the
destruction of the city, and a number of false prophets
arose and deceived the people, making them believe that
God, who had so often in times gone by rescued their
fathers from their oppressors, would help them to throw
off the Roman yoke.

One day the inhabitants of the city were astonished
and frightened to see a flaming sword suspended over
the temple. One night, when the city was full of
people from the country, who came to the feast of
unleavened bread, at the middle of the night a great
light shone around the temple for half an hour, making
everything look as bright as day. On another
occasion, as the priests were going into the inner
temple to perform their sacred duties, they heard a
great noise and many voices, saying, " Let us move
hence." These and other sigfns were the harbino-ers
of coming woe upon the devoted city, as subsequent
events showed.

Ecclesia called her friends around her for consulta-
tion, and to determine on some plan of action in view
of what seemed, in the near future, coming upon the
city. That the city was doomed to destruction was
the opinion of persons who best understood the old
prophets, and that the time was near at hand seemed
evident from the signs of the times.

"I think," said Ecclesia to those around her, "we
will do well to be prepared for whatever may occur in
regard to the fate of the city. I have just heard that
the Romans are coming with an army, and that they
are within a day's march of the city. They are
incensed at the conduct of the rulers of the country,
and it is not likely that any favors will be shown by
them to Christians more than to the Jews."

CLOUDS GATHERING.

" What do you propose to do, dear mistress?" inquired
Hope,

" We will listen to what Truth has to say on the
subject before we decide," said Ecclesia.

Truth spoke as follows : " The latest prophecy con-
cerning Jerusalem in this : ' Jerusalem shall be trodden
down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles
be fulfilled.' "

" I remember," said Ecclesia, " that the Lord said
before he left me, ' And when ye shall see Jerusalem
compassed with armies, then know that the desolation
thereof is nigh. Then let them that are in Judea flee
to the mountains ; and let them which are in the midst
of it depart out; and let not them that are in the
countries enter therein. For these be the days of
vengeance, that all things which are written may be
fulfilled.'"*

" Yes," said Truth, " and did he not once weep as he
looked on the doomed city?"

"He did," replied Ecclesia; "he wept, saying, 'If
thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day,
the things which belong to thy peace, but now they
are hid from thine eyes. For the day shall come upon
thee that thine enemies shall cast a trench about thee
and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every
side, and shall lay thee even with the ground and thy
children within.' "-|-

" Our duty, it seems to me," said Faith, "is to watch
the signs of the times, and when the time comes, act
upon the instructions given, and leave the place before
we are shut in so that we cannot escape."

" That is well said," replied Truth, "we must do as
our dear mistress has been directed, at all hazards."

" If we do so," said Hope, " we shall escape the
destruction that seems to be coming on the city."

* See Luke xxi. 20 and following versea.
t See Luke xix. 42 and following verses.

! t )

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

" I am so sorry," said Love, " for the people who are
to be so severely punished for their sins. I cannot help
it ; though it is just, after all that they have done."

" It is hard, sometimes," replied Ecelesia, " for us to
get our feelings to harmonize with our judgment and
conscience. We are not responsible for their sins,
nor are we accountable for their punishment."

The next morning after the conversation above
mentioned, the inhabitants of the city saw a sight that
made many a heart sick, and made many faces to turn
pale. The Eagles of Rome were fluttering in the
breeze and glinting in the light of the morning sun in
all directions. Down in the Kidron valley, up on the
hill of Gareb, out on the potter's field, away down the
Damascus road toward Bethany and Jericho, and
along the roads to Bethlehem and Joppa, everywhere
were the hated emblem of the world's enslavement,
which told but too plainly that the Romans were there
in large numbers.

When Ecelesia saw the Roman Eagles, she said to
her attendants, " We must leave the city and make
our way to a place of safety, where the Romans will
not be likely to follow us, or where we will escape the
destruction that may come upon the city."

Just then a man came up to them, and said every
gate is guaraed, and every road barricaded, so that
there is no way to get out of the city or to come into
it. We are besieged, and no one can tell how long it
may last, or what will be the end of it, said the man,
as he ran away to tell others the unpleasant news.

" Truly," said Ecelesia, " dark days are upon us ; but
he has promised that no trial can be too hard for him
to help me through ; and I am sure just now I feel, as
I never felt before, the need of his help."

" Never fear," said Faith, " his promise cannot fail to
them who trust in him."

Hope said, " Darkness may be for a night, but light
returns with the morning."

liji

CHAPTER V.

THE CLOUDS ARE THICKENING.

QTANDING one day on the threshold of an old
v3 homestead, I saw coming up the walk a vener-
able looking man accompanied by a lady. They were
past the meridian of life, as was evidenced by the
sprinkling of silver that glistened among the tresses of
the one, and in the closely cropped hair of the other.
That they were nearly related would appear to the
most casual observer. That they were children of the
same parents was the conclusion that I came to as
they drew near to me. I had never seen them before.

Bowing to me as he approached, the man said, "You,
I presume, are the present owner of this place ? "

I assented, and inquired what I could do for them.

He answered, " What we want will cost you but
little. To us, however, it is worth a good deal. We
have come many miles, and we have crossed seas and
mountains to reach this place, so that our eyes might
once more look upon the scenes that were once so
familiar to us. We were born in this house. Our
baby voices once echoed through the rooms of this old
home. Our childish feet once pressed these walks, and
our youthful footsteps often wandered among the
shadows of these spreading trees. But five and thirty
years have passed, and carried a generation with them,
since last we stood where we are standing now. For

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

reasons that need not now be explained we left this
place when we were grown to maturity, and went to
a distant country. My sister and I have each a good
home, a kind companion, and loving children. But as
the time passed by we felt an increasing desire to
come and see our old home once more. Would it bo
asking too much to solicit the privilege of staying
here a day and a night that we may on this, to us,
sacred spot, commune with the memories of the past?"

As a matter of course, the privilege was granted, and
highly appreciated and greatly enjoyed.

But the incident may be taken as illustrating that
feeling in our common nature, that is almost as undy-
ing as is the consciousness of our identity — love of
home, especially the home of our childhood.

Some feeling kindred to this had kept Ecclesia lin-
gering around Jerusalem. She knew that the city
was devoted to destruction from the day that the
Master had said to the Jews, " Your house is left unto
you desolate." She made her home in this city, even
though she felt that she was not recognized as one who
was entitled to the rights of citizenship. Perhaps she
thought that her presence in the place might do ^ little
good to some of the doomed people. Whatever was
her reason for remaining so long, she now found her-
self in a very trying position. As has already been
said, the Romans had come and the city was so com-
pletely invested that escape now seemed out of the
question. And what made matters worse for Ecclesia
and her friends was the fact that the Romans made
no distinction between the Jews, as such, and tlie
Christians. And although the latter had nothin<r to
do in provoking the war, it now seemed as though
they, as well as the Jews, must sufter all the terrible
consequences of the siege, and final overthrow of the
city, and the destruction of the Jewish nation.

THE (M.OUDS ARE THICKENING,

ible
the

Ecclesia called her friends together, to consider the
situation in which they were placed. Faith and Hope
spoke words of encouragement, and said many things
to cheer up the drooping spirits of their mistress and
her friends; then Hope sang the following:

" When the cares of life oppress you,

And its burdens bear you down ;
When the present scenes distress you,

And tlie future wears a frown ;
When the days are dark and dreary,

When the nights are cold and bleak ;
When with limbs benumbed and weary,

You turn, a resting-place to seek :

" Then will His arm be thrown around you.

Then will His hand your footsteps guide ;
There can no enemy confound you

While resting calmly by His side.
Then cast away this gloomy sadness

And let the light shine on your heart,
And let your words be words of gladness.

For He will always take your part."

HELP NEEDED.

" These are helpful words, Hope," said Ecclesia with
some degree of confidence in her tone of voice. " I feel
like chiding myself sometimes because I am inclined
to look at the dark side of things, I know that it is
not right or wise to do so, but sometimes I cannot
help it."

Here Faith spoke, quoting from the Psalms of David ;
" God is our refuge and strength ; a very present help
in trouble : therefore will not we fear, though the
earth be removed; and though the mountains be carried
into the midst of the sea ; though the waters thereof
roar and be troubled ; and though the mountains shake
with the swelling thereof."

" Amen," said Truth. " That settles the question of
safety on the part of those who have God for their

\.\,i\

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

portion, and who are trustin*^ in him. Just then they
saw two old men approachinf^. As they came up,
Ecclesia recoofnized them as the two men that had
sought to form an alliance with her, viz., Doubtsome
and Fearsome. They have changed since we last saw
them ; but there is the same scowl upon the face of
Doubtsome, and the same scared look on the face of
Fearsome. " How is the fair lady and how are her
maidens ? " said Fearsome in a tone of feigned sin-
cerity ; " I had greatly feared for your safety. Are
you still engaged in your work of persuading people
to give up one religion and take up with another ?"

" My mistress," said Truth, "is bringing people out
of darkness into light. She leads them from their idols
to serve the living God ; to throw off their supersti-
tions and give up their sins and be free and happy."

" That sounds nice in words, but it don't hold good
in fact," put in Doubtsome, in reply to what Truth
had said.

" It holds good everywhere," said Faith, with em-
phasis. " Thousands all over the country, as well as
in the cities, have come to the light and are now
rejoicing in the light. Besides, many in the last two
scores of j'-ears have testified with their dying breath
that this Gospel is the power of God unto salvation."

" That is questionable at all times," said Doubtsome ;
" but just now is not the time to discuss the truth or
the error of your theories. But there is one thing
that I can assure you, thousands all over the country
are turning back to their old religion ; some to
Paganism, and others to Judaism. The coming of the
Romans has shaken the foundations of the faith of
many, and they justly conclude that they will be safer
to be as far as possible in harmony with the con-
querors."

" The coming of the Romans," said Faith, " goes to
prove that our belief is founded in truth, for our

.3t

'rHE CLOUDS ARE THICKENTNCJ.

con-

prophets have declared that they would come, and the
Master has said that they would come. Now they
are here and those predictions are fulfilled. Instead
of shakini^ people's faith, these facts ought to
strengthen it."

" What ought to be and what is are very often
entirely different things. For instance, you ought to
have left the city before the Romans came. Now
they are liere, and you cannot get awa^,'' said Doubt-
some.

"We were told to leave the city," Ecclesia replied,
after we saw it encompassed with armies. To have
gone before that w^ould have been contrary to our
orders."

" What about your order now ? " put in Doubtsome.
" You w^aited for the sign before you obeyed the order.
Now you see the sign, the city is encompassed with
armies, but you cannot obey the order now."

" In some way or other," said Truth, " there will
be an opportunity to obey that order yet, for the
Master never would command what would be impos-
sible to do."

" Perhaps he did not know that the impossibility
would come into the arrangement. Maybe he could
not see so far ahead as that ; but it is now quite cer-
tain that you cannot obey the order."

" We shall not need j'^our counsels any more," said
Ecclesia ; " for come what may, I shall not give up to
despair. In some way we shall get out of the dilemma
in which we now seem to be placed."

" Excuse me," said Fearsome, " but I am very much
alarmed for the inhabitants of the city. These Romans
have nowhere found men who could successfully con-
tend with them. What chance is there, then, for a
city hedged in on every side, and whose population is
two-thirds women and children ? "

" What is that you are saying ? " inquired a voice.

Ijli

I I

il'' I

CLOTH KD WITH THE SUN.

On turning toward the speaker, they saw a man cast
in no ordinary mould. He was the embodiment of
every manly (piality. His every look seemed to indi-
cate strength of character. By looking into his face,
the most timid seemed to catch an inspiration akin to
courage. In his every step might be seen the move-
ments of a conqueror, and the tones of his voice
sounded like martial music in the hour of victory.

" Who are you ? " .scornfully asked Doubtsome.

" My name," said the stranger, " was given me on
the field of battle where I first saw the light. I am
called Braveheart. Whether rightly or wrongly so,
it is not for me to say, but somehow I always find
that my courage is equal to the occasion. And I
learned that Ecclesia is in a strait and in need of
safe counsellors, so I came to offer my services, if she
will accept them."

"That I will do with pleasure," said Ecclesia. "1
have around me some faithful and true friends in
whom I place implicit confidence. But in a time
like this, when difficulties like great mountains sur-
round me, I cannot have too many true friends."

"That may mean," Doubtsome said, spitefully,
" that I and my brother are not true friends."

" That much is implied in my words, though I did
not say so. How can I look upon any one as a true
friend who tries to shake my confidence in my Lord
as you have just been doing ? " was her calm reply.

Mr. Braveheart turned to Doubtsome and Fearsome,
saying, " [ am not surprised to meet you here, I have
often met you before, although you feigned not to
know me when I came up. You are frequently found
where there is trouble of any kind. You seem to take
delight in worrying people with your gloomy and de-
sponding statements. You seem to enjoy the sight of
the sufferings of others and to gloat over their mis-
fortunes ; but in this case you are simply wasting your
time and making yourselves appear ridiculous."

THE CLOUDS ARE THICKENING.

((

: did

true

Lord

" How can I serve you, now that you have consented
to take me into confidence? " said Braveheart, turning to
p]cclesia.

" Stay with me and my friends until these dark days
are past," she answered.

" Well, then, we will consider that settled," replied
he.

The consternation in the city increased every day
and every hour. The Romans were constantly getting
nearer to the citadel and the temple. These were the
main objective points with the Romans, as they were
the two points of greatest importance in the estimation
of the citizens and soldiers. And the case was made
more hopeless by the dissensions that sprung up
among the leaders of the people. They were divided
into factions, and the force that should have been
directed against the common foe was largely wasted
upon each other. And some of the more thoughtful
among the people said that these calamities were sent
upon them as a punishment for the murder of two
innocent persons, viz., Jesus of Nazareth and James
the Just. These rumors coming to the ears of the
rulers, so incensed them against Ecclesia and her
friends, that they were in as much danger from the
Jews as they were from the Romans.

And to add to the forebodings of evils that were press-
ing upon the spirits of the people, there could no tidings
be got from the country outside. What M'^as the con-
dition of the other cities and villages of the land was
a question that none could answer.

nif

ANOTHER SURPRISE.

mis-
vour

One morning, not long after the incidents above
mentioned, both Jews and Christians were surprised
when they arose from their couches and looked to
where the Roman encampments had been. Not a

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

single tont or banner could be seen. All had gone
during the night, and nowhere could the eager eyes of
the inhabitants of the city see any trace of them.
Where had they gone, and why ? were the questions
that each asked of his neifjhbor; but none could
answer,*

When it became quite clear that the Romans were
gone, Truth said to Ecclesia, " We should now make
our escape from this doomed city, for it will not be
long before a greater man tlian Cestius Gallus will
come and bring an army that will sweep everything
before them, and this city shall be destroyed, and its
walls levelled with the ground, and the temple will be
razed to its very foundations, and hundreds of thou-
sands of its inhabitants will perish by famine and by
pestilence and by sword." -f-

" Yes," replied Ecclesia, '• I am now convinced that
the time has come when we must leave Jerusalem for-
ever. What memories shall I carry with me in my
wanderings. Although my connection with this city
has been betimes of an unpleasant kind, yet I would
not have it otherwise than it has been. Li the temple
I first saw him whom I love more than life itself. On
the streets I have seen the multitudes following him.
In many of its dwellings I have held sweet converse
with him and with his friends, and in its environments
many, many pleasant hours have been spent. But all
this is past, and I can never enjoy those pleasant scenes
again. I do not complain, however, it will all come

• After the Roman army had laid waste many of the cities of
Judea, Cestius Gallus came to lay siege to Jerusalem, but for
some reason, not explained, he raised the Biege and retired. Then
the Christians escaped. — " Wars of the Jews," chap. II., sec. 19.

t All this was literally fulfilled. Vespasian and Titus came,
and after a terrible siege took the city, and destroyed the temple
and scattered the people, after 1,100,000 had been destroyed, and
broke up the nation and laid the place in ruins.

THE CLOUDS ARK "HICKENING.

[ gone
jyes o£

them,
estions

could

IS were
V make

not be
lUS will
rything

and its
! will be
at' thou-

and by

tced that
ilem for-
^e in my
this city

I would
e temple
5elf. On
ring him.
converse
ronments
But all
,nt scenes

all come

le cities of
m, but. for
ired. Then
II., sec. 10.
ritus came,
the temple
tvoyed, and

right at last, for has he not said that all things shall
work together for miOi] to them that love him ? And
whatever doubts I may liave about other things, I
liave none on this point, for 1 know that I love him
and, if need be, I tliink that I could die for him."

" A thinor that manv of your friends will have to do,"
said Truth; "for has he not said so? 'Ye shall be hated
of all men for my name's sake,' is what he told us be-
fore leaving us. And he said the time cometh when
wh(JSoever killeth j'-ou will think that he doeth God
service. Yes, dear mistress, your friends are doomed
to suffer in this world. You, too, will suffer, but it
will be through your friends. Your life they cannot
touch, for it is hidden in the bosom of God, where the
wicked cannot come to it. Your person and your life
are sacred to hiui, and no power can do you serious
injury while you have this protection, for he has said
that the gates of hell shall not prevail against you.
But many a time your poor heart will bleed on account
of the sufferings of your friends."

" 1 have already suffered in that way," said Ecclesia.

" The faithful Stephen, the cool and logical James,
the brave Cephas, and the eloquent Paul, one after
another have fallen victims to the blows of persecutors.
All of my former leaders are gone except John ; and
he is hunted from place to place like a wild beast.
Life to him is a precarious blessing. He never knows
when he is safe."

" He is safe until his work is done," put in Hope.

About a week after this conversation there came a
man from Damascus, who said that Vespasian and
Titus were coming with a largp army, and that they
were only two days' march from the city.*

■^''Eusebius and Epiphanius, as quoted by Dr. A. Clarke, says,
that when Vespasian was approaching with his army, all who
believed in Christ left .Jerusalem and fled to Pella, and other
places beyond the Jordan, so they all escaped the general ship-
wreck of their country ; not one of them perished.

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

Ecclesia now called her friends tojxether, and made
the finishino- preparations to leave the place and seek
safety in some other quarter.

To her it was a sad day. After all was ready for
a start, she went to the temple to take one more looiv
at that sacred edlHce. When she stood for the last
time in that buildino-, she could not refrain from weep-
ino-, and to her it was the saddest hour of her life ;
more sad, because less hopeful, than the hour when she
parted with her Lord. She san<y to lierself in a sad
tone of voice, and in a minor kej^ :

" How fast my tears are falling,

My heart is sad to-day ;
1 hear a sweet voice, calling,

My xjved one, come away.
Come, leave this doomed city.

No more to see its v/rongs,
And, though your heart may pity.

No more to hear its songs.

" How many generations

Have met and mingled here.
While many a distant n^iion

Has envied our good cheer?
Our solemn sacrifices,

Our joyous festal days,
Onco led men from their vices

To walk in virtue's ways.

" But now the voice f>f mourning

Is heard in every street.
For startling words of warning

Are borne on swiftest feet.
The Romans now are nearing,

Those men of iron mould,
Whom all the world is fen ring.

And they won't be braight with gold.

" My eyes are sore with crying,
My heart is sad to-day,
T see my nation dying.
Her people chastd away.

THE CLOUDS ARE THiCKEXINa

Their feet once trod tliose pavements,

While they did whut was right ;
But now thiough sin's enslavements

They sink in hopeless night."

She walked out of the temple with bowed head, feel-
ing that the sun of Judaism was setting to rise no
more, and realizing that henceforth her home must be
among the Gentiles.

(gathering her people in a group, they started on
their uncertain journey, not knowing where they would
go to. They intended to cross the Jordan and find
some retired place where they could remain until the
war-cloud should pass away, and things settle down
in something like a normal condition.

They went out of the city, not far from the pool of
Bethesda ; then turning southward, they passed on
between the Garden of Gethsemane and the hill Cal-
vary. When they came to the garden, they found
that it was not guarded, and the gate being on the
swing, they went in.

Ecclesia walked about for awhile, till she at last
came to the spot where the disciples slept on that
memorable night, when the Lord was wrestling with
the World's guilt and divine justice, trying to destroy
the one and to satisfy the claims of the other.

"Here," said she, " is the place where they slept; "
and going on a little farther, she pointed to a little
knoll, and said, " there is where he knelt in prayer.
This ground was moistened by his sweat-drops," said
she, as she took up a handful of the soil.

They came out of the garden and passed on a little
distance, and then they stood near to Calvary. They
all stood with heads uncovered, as they took a view
of that memorable spot.

" It is proper and right," said Ecclesia, " that, in
going forth into the world, we should take with us
the recollecticiis of these two spots, around which so

r, ■■.!

CI^OTHED WITH THE SUN.

I ■ I

many thrilling associations cluster. The eyes of mil-
lions will one day he turned to Gethsemane and Cal-
vary. In the ages to come, men will journey from the
uttermost parts of the earth to stand where we now
stand, and to see what we now see."

" Yes," said Truth, " and the time will come when
men will attach more importance to these localities
than they will to the events that transpired here.
They will think more of seeing Calvary and Geth-
semane by the eye of sense, than of seeing him who
suffered here, by the eye of faith."

Leaving here, the company passed over the valley of
Jeboshaphat and took the road that goes to Bethany
and Jericho. When they got on the Mount of Olives,
they stopped to look about them. Turning toward the
city, they could see the place quite distinctly from
where they stood. Looking over the city, Ecclesia
said, " It was here that he sat when he gave the
description of the last scenes in the history of Jerusa-
lem. Here is where he sat when he gave the warning
on which we are acting in leaving the doomed city to
escape to the mountains, as he said that we should do."

" Where are we going ? " inquired Hope. " Are we
to leave the country entirely and go to Arabia, or into
Egypt, or shall we go away ott" into Assyria, or Elam,
or India ? "

" Not any of these places just now, but to all of
these places in due time," replied Ecclesia ; " for hence-
forth our life is to be a life of action, and our home in
future is to be where our work is, and that will be
mostly among the Gentiles. Our country now is to
be the world, and our countrymen are to be the human
race. Our mission reaches as f^r as the foot of man
has marked the soil of earth."

" Can we ever reach all the nations ?" inquired Love.

"Yes," replied Truth ; " for the Master has said, 'Go
into all the world and preach the Gospel to every

)t' niil-
id Cal-
om the
iTe now

3 when
calities
I here.
Geth-
m who

3,11 ey of
iethany

Olives,
ard the
y from
Ecdesia
ive the
Jerusa-
\rarning

city to
Lild do."
Are we

or into
r Elam,

all of
r hence-
home in
will be
►w is to
human
of man

3(1 Love,
■^aid, 'Go
;o every

THE CLOUDS AilE THICKENING.

creature.' We know that he would not give an order
that could not be fulfilled. What he commands, we
ought to do, and what we ought to do we can do ; for
tiuty and ability are always equal. We can do what
we ought to do, and in all good works we ought to do
what we can do."

Looking away over the city, in the direction of
Damascus, Ecclesia saw the Roman eagles borne aloft
on their tlagstatFs, and along with them an immense
army was approaching the city from the north and
west.

" Now the decisive hour has come,'" said Ecclesia ;
" We must away over the Jordan, into the country of
Reuben, and hide awav among the mountains there
until this terrible struggle is over."

The companj^ started on in the direction indicated,
led by Braveheart, followed by the rest — Ecclesia
and her four attendants, Truth, and Hope, and Faith,
and Love, keeping close together, while others marched
a little in the rear. This order was observed in all
their future journeyings. They reached a place of
safety, where the enemies of their country did not dis-
turb them for awdiile. We will leave Ecclesia for
awhile, as the representative of the Christian Church,
and devote a little time to the consideration of the
fate of the now obsolete Jewish Church ; and in so
doing, we shall find that the fate of the Jews, both
civilly and religiously, had been so fully described by
their own prophets, that in outline, the history of
their own overthrow was written ages before the
thing was done.

The Church and the State were so closely connected,
and their institutions and interests were so interwoven
that the two must stand or fall together. When the
Mosaic economy gave place to the Christian system,
and Moses gave place to Christ, then the Jewish
religion died, and with it the Jewish national existence

r ' '

I !

-iiit

iTfl

I fS

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

died. It is true that God, in organizing or instituting
the Christian Church, has incorporated into it all the
best elements of the Jewish Church ; in fact, all that
could be utilized in the new order of things in the
Christian dispensation have been given a place in the
institutions and ordinances of the Christian Church.
All that was intended to be permanent in the laws
and ordinances given by Moses w^as saved in the laws
and ordinances of Christianity.

But much of the Jewish sj^stem was like the scaf-
folding of a building. They were temporary helps
in the production of something better than themselves.
The law, we are told, was a school-master to bring us
to Christ. The ritual law was the scaffolding used in
the building up of a better structure. The symbolic
services under the ritual law, and the rites and cere-
monies in connection w4th them, were all intended to
prepare the way for something beyond and better
than themselves.

The world has been a great gainer by the substi-
tuting of Christianity for Judaism. The religion of
the Jews was a centralizing force. It was intended to
make Jerusalem the religious centre of the w^orld, and
the temple the only place in the world where accept-
able worship could be offered to the Divine Being. It
said to the nations : " If you want our religion you
must come to Jerusalem for it, and you must accept
our nationality with it." This kept the Jews a
distinct people, as was intended by the founder of
their religion, until the Messiah should come. Then
something better was to be given to the world.

Christianity is a diffusive force. It scatters what
it gathers. It is not intended for one people or one
country, but is for all people and for every country;
hence all nations have an interest in it. It does not,
like the Jewish religion, denationalize its converts. It
does not interfere with national existence or curtail
national privileges.

THE CLOUDS ARE THICKENING.

:,ituting
all the
all that
in the
? in the
Church.
le laws
he laws

he scaf-
y helps
m selves,
jring us
used in
ymbolic
nd cere-
inded to
I better

substi-
gion of
nded to
n'ld, and

accept-

ng. It
ion you
t accept

Jews a

mder of

Then

rs what
e or one
jountry ;
loes not,
erts. It
r curtail

■^

Christianity adapts itself to all conditions of human
life, correcting what is wrong, strengthening what is
right, and helping the weak and erring to build upon
the only true foundation, so that they may stand
secure in the day of trial.

So that, however much we may admire the religion
of the Jews, we must and do claim that it never could
have done for the world what Christianity is doing.

But it is sad, indeed, it is heart-sickening, to read
the harrowing accounts given by historians of terrible
sufferings of the Jews when their temple, their city,
their national existence and their religious system all
went down together. That many of them, as indi-
viduals, retain their racial distinctness is a fact that
cannot be disputed ; that so many of them have sur-
vived the unjust severity with which they have been
treated by almost all nations, is a mystery that it
would be difficult to solve ; and that they are still
blindly waiting for the coming of their Messiah is one
of the wonders of our age.

ITH

; I

CHAPTER VT.

A HOMELESS WANDERER.

I !

WE have, before now, seen the destruction of the
home by fire — everythino- gone. The family
escapes only with life. The accumulations of years of
toil and privation ^'one in smoke within an hour.
Articles of utility or of adornment, family heirlooms
and souvenirs of friendship ; cooking utensils and
family apparel ; costly works of art and baby play-
things; volumes of rarest value and toy books for
children, all gone together — and that on a cold winter
night. The family gather in the barn and wrap them-
selves in blankets, that are taken from the horses in
the stables, to keep from freezing, and there they have
to stay until friendly neighbors come and bring them
clothing, and offer them the timely shelter of their
homes.*

Similar to this was the condition of Ecclesia.
Hitherto she had made her home in Jerusalem, but
now she must find a home elsewhere. But where
should that be? Long ago it had been said that the
Lord's chosen one should be given as a light to the
Gentiles, and Paul had said to his countrymen, the

*This is no fancy picture, but was a real occurrence with a
family in the Township of Osprey, in Ontario, some years ago.

.a^

A HOMKLESS WANDEUEtl.

)n of the
le family
' years of
an hour,
leirloonis
nsils and
iby play-
00 ks for
d winter
ap them-

lorses in
ney have
inoj them

of their

Ecclesia.
alem, but
ut where

that the
ht to the

men, the

Jews, " Seeinfif ye count yourselves unworthy, lo we
turn to the Gentiles." And the Lord said to Paul,
" I send thee far hence amoni,' the Gentiles." The
work of Ecclesia henceforth was to be mostly among
the Gentiles.

After the destruction of the city, and the dispersion
of what was left of the Jews, it became a matter of
importance to Ecclesia and her friends to decide
where to make their centre of influence, their head-
quarters, and the base of their operations.

The Christian religion, of which Ecclesia was the
representative, had already gained considerable noto-
riety, and a knowledge of it had spread over a
large part of the Roman empire. But the persecution
of Ecclesia and her friends had mostly been confined
to the Jews until a short time before the dispersion of
that people.* But now the Jews were not in a posi-
tion to harm the Christians much. But the rancor
of the Pagans was greatly increased, and a general
persecution, ordered by the Emperor, was only the
beginning of a series of acts of cruelty by the Pagans
toward the Christians, that scarcely find a parallel in
the annals of the world's crimes and cruelties.

Ecclesia and her friends were misunderstood by the
Pagans, and hence the bitterness with which they
were hated. Refusing to acknowledge the gods of
the heathen, or worship their idols, they were looked
upon as atheists by their neighbors, and as enemies
to the state by those in authority. It will be remem-
bered that Pilate was unmoved by all the accusations
that the Jews brought against the Founder of Christi-

* • or?

anity until they brought the charge of sedition, on

nice with a
ears ago.

■^The first pagan persecution was iintier tlie notorious Nero,
'|i and commenced about A.D. (54, being six years before Jerusalem
j was destroyed. Paul and Peter suffered death under Nero in
;;G(j. The one was beheaded and the other crucified.

CLOTIIKD WITTT THE sr.V.

:!i:

the ground that lie was an encMny of Cavsar, vvl»ich
meant that he was against the State.

" Where shall we find a place to which we can go
and be safe from persecution ? " asked Hope.

" There is no such place on the earth," said Truth.

*' Has it become as bad as that ? " inquired Love.

"Yes," said Ecclesia; "it is as bad as that. We
need not expect to find a place where w^e will have no
opposition. What we want to do is to go where the
opposition will least retard the progress of our work.
VVe must expect opposition and persecution; for did
not he say, ' Jn the world ye shall have tribulation,
and the world will hate you ; because 3''e are not of
the world. For if ye wei'e of the world, the world
would love its own. But the world hated me before
it hated you.' From this we may sec that not in this
world shall we find a place of rest until this world is
conquered by us."

" When shall we start for our new field of toil ? "
inquired Hope.

" We will go first to Egypt and stay awhile in the
city of Alexandria, to establish an organization of our
people there. They are there already, but I understand
that they need to be instructed in the doctrines and
precepts of our religion and encouraged in the practice
of its duties."

"They will listen to the teachings of our sister
Truth," said Hope.

" Yes," replied Love; " and our sister Faith will help
them to accept of the teachings of Truth, that they may
grow strong thereb3^"

" Yes," said Faith, " and our sister Love will help
them to obey the precepts of the truth, for has it not
been said by our brother Paul that ' love is the fulfilling
of the law ? ' "

" This conversation reminds me," said Ecclesia, " of
a matter of very great importance to me, and to all who,

I ,1

A HOMELESS WANDERER.

r, vvliich

can go

Truth.
Love,
lat. We
I have no
vhere the
lur work.
; for did
ibulation,
re not of
he world
ne before
ot in this
world is

of toil?"

le in the
3n of our
iderstand
ines and
e practice

ur sister

will help
they may

will help
as it not
fulfilling

esia, " of
oall who,

in the years to coino, may be friendly to me and to my
■ work."

" What may that be, dear mistress ? " inquired Truth.

She answered, " Before they went to the home
beyond, the men who were the first messengei's sent
out by hiin, and who were the witnesses when he
espoused me as his future wife, have left behind them
writino's in which thev irive a full account of the
doings and sayings of the Master while he was among
them. And besides this, my friend Paul, before he laid
down his life for the truthfulness of his teachings,
wrote letters to many of the visible churches that he
founded, or that were in existence when he was in
ilome as a prisoner. Now we must diligently search
for these writings, and when we find any of them we
umst carefully preserve them, for in the ages to come
there will be much disputing about what our doctrines
and precepts are, and these writings will be very use-
ful to settle these questions; in fact, they will be all-
important, and will .become the only standard of appeal,
in conjunction with the Jewish Scriptures, on all ques-
tions of faith and practice."

Truth answered, "There is already the need of some
standard of appeal to which we can apply for the
decision of disputed questions. There is one Cerinthus,
a disciple of Simon Magus, who sought to purchase
from Cephas the power to dispense divine gifts, with
money. This man Cerinthus is misleading many
simple-minded people in diti'erent places."

" There are other false teachers among the people
who profess to be his followers," said Ecclesia. " The
people called Gnostics are doing all they can to corrupt
the truth and to so mix it up with Jewish superstitions
and Pagan philosophy, that the beauty and force of the
teachings of the Master is lost in the darkness of the
'one or the hazy mists of the other."

The first place that Ecclesia and her attendants went

r , ! t

I,!l

(Ji.OTlIED WITH THE SUN.

to was Alexandria. Tluire they foiiiid things very
diffe'"ent t'roni wliat they had been accustomed to in
Jerasalern. Tlie Egyptians were as much unlike the
Jews then as they were when Jacob and his sons
resided there. They were a conservative and nonpro-
gressive people. In their social and domestic life they
were what their fathers had been for ages ; but it was
with them as it is wuth people of that description
everywhere, when once they give up their antiquated
notions, there is no telling where they may drift to.
This seems to have been the case with the Christians
of Egypt, for Alexandria was the birthplace of
Arianism and other heresies that disturbed the Chris-
tian world for centuries.

The three strongholds of Christianity now were
Alexandria in Egypt, Antioch in Syria, and Home
in Italy. One in Africa, one in Asia, and one in
Europe.

Ecclesia spent most of her time in one or the other
of these cities. From these central points she sent out
her helpers in all directions ; but the time was near at
hand when she was to be severely tried by

MOKE PERSECUTION.

Nero, the embodiment of cruelty, after he had sub-
jected the (Christians to such tortures as the world
had never heard of before, killed liimself and ridded
the earth of one of the greatest human monsters that
ever desecrated its soil or disgraced its history. Ves-
pasian and Titus had come on the stage of imperial life
and had jjone where all must oo. Domitian, another
unmerciful tyrant, had come to the imperial throne.
He must needs distinguish himself in some way, and
to hiui it appeared that the easiest way to do it was
by entering upon a crusade against the life and liberty
of that part of his subjects known as Christians ; and

A HOMELESS WANDERER.

\vrH very
ed to in
iliko the
his sons
non pro-
life they
lit it was
iscription
itiquated
drift to.
!hristians
I place of
le Chris-

ow were
id Rome
1 one in

the other
) sent out
IS near at

had sub-
he world
d ridded
;ers that
y. Ves-
iev\'d\ life
another
1 throne,
way, and
io it was
id liberty
ans ; and

accordingly the C-hristians were persecuted.* Every-
where now the friends of Ecclesia were in danger.
The comparatively mild reigns of Vespasian and Titus
had left them in peace, mostly, to pursue their work
of love in mitigating human misery, and in elevating
the masses of the people to the dignity of Christian
manhood and Christian womanhood ; and the world
was being made better every day by the untiring and
successful efforts of Ecclesia and tho.'jo who were work-
ing under her direction.

" What is to be the end of all this, Braveheart ? " said
Kcclcsia, addressing the porson named.

" The end of it will be what the end always is when
the kings and princes of this w^orld set themselves
against the Lord and against his anointed," was the
prompt reply.

"You think, then," inquired Love, "that this storm
will pass over like the last, and that the cause of our
mistress will outlive all the opposition of the world ?

" Most assuredly," said Braveheart ; " for are there
not many promises to that effect, and have we not
already had ample proof that persecution cannot de-
stroy our cause ? How was it under Nero ? The more
Christians he killed the more they increased in num-
bers, until it seemed as if the whole city was turning to
be Christians. When Nero gave Paul the privilege of
defending himself and his religion before a large eon-
course of people, the tyrant did not know that he was
\ striking one of the heaviest blows at paganism that
ever had been struck in Rome.-f- He did not know

::• * The second general persecution under the pagan emperors
commenced about A. D. 95. It was then that John was banished
to the Isle of Patmos, Avhere he wrote the Book of Revelations

■ as a supplement to tbe prophecies.

t It has been said that old Seneca, the philosopher, and his
pupil, young Clement, were in tlie audience that day, and
freceived impressions that resulted in giving Christianity a friend
nn the one, and future bishop in the other.

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WEBSTER, NY M580

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Q-

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

that one of the most scholarly, thoughtful men in
Rome, and one of the most promising youths in the
city, were to be swayed that day in favor of the pris-
oner and his religion to such an extent that they never
afterwards could be satisfied with the religion of their
fathers ; and when the same tyrant killed Peter and
Paul, he did not know that the death of these good
and great men sent a thrill of horror into the homes of
many of the citizens of Rome. O ! no, persecution can-
not destroy our cause. I feel like singing :

" An emperor is full of wrath,

And tells us to surcease our preaching ;
An empire stands across our path,
And tells us to give o'er our teaching.

" With these demands we can't comply,
* For we have got a great commission,
To go into the world and cry.

Turn from your sins and seek remission.

"Then heaven will overlook the past

Through Him who gave His life to save you ;
And you may rise to heaven at last.
To see that Saviour who forgave you."

BOOKS FOUND.

One morning a stranger approached Ecclesia, having
a roll of manuscript written on papyrus. As he came
up to her he made the usual salutation, saying, " Peace
be with you ! " Then he began to unfold the rolls that
he had in his hand ; and as he did so, he said to her :

" Lady, I have here something that may be interest-
ing to you, as a Jewess, since these manuscripts speak
of your expected Messiah, or rather of one that claimed
to be such. They are of no use to me, as an Ishmaelite,
so I will sell them to you for one shekel."

Ecclesia took the roll from the hand of the man,
and when she looked at it, she found it had been writ-

A HOMELESS WANDERER.

ten by a former custom-house officer whom the Mas-
ter had, one day, found at the receipt of custom. This
man, on invitation to do so being given, left his calling
and became one of the number who followed him from
place to place, and who wrote an account of the sayings
and doings of his Lord.

Upon being asked where he got the roll, he said that
he found it in a vineyard through which some Jews
had passed while escaping to the country to get away
from the Romans.

The shekel was paid to the son of Ishmael, who
knew not the value of the article. But Ecclesia was
delighted to be able to obtain this record of the doings
and sayings of her Lord. This was one of the
sacred books, which were written by various persons,
and by divine inspiration. These books were collected
by Ecclesia and her friends, and by her carefully pre-
served, to be known in later times by the title of the
New Testament, which, in connection with the Jewish
Scriptures, or Old Testament, make the book now
known as the Bible, which Christians still hold very
dearly, believing it to be the word of God.

Startling news now spread over the country, and
Ecclesia and her friends were again disturbed by the
intelligence that the Christians were being slaughtered
by thousands all over the empire. And the heaviest
blow that fell upon them was the statement that the
old Bishop of Ephesus, the Apostle John, had been, by
imperial orders, sent a prisoner to Patmos, a barren
island in the ^Egean sea, there to close his useful and
exemplary life in solitude and silence.

" I am sorry to hear of John's banishment, ' said
Ecclesia, " but he has done good work for the Master
for many years. Cephas and James used to be his
special companions in the long ago. But they finished
their work more than thirty years since. And still
John lingers in the field of toil like the belated work-

7 '

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

man whose task is still unfinished when the sun pjoes
down. He will likely finish his course soon, now that
the hand of persecution has fallen upon him."

" The enemies of our cause are making terrible work
in some countries," said Truth. "In fact, in every
place where Christians are found they are being killed
l3y the hands of our enemies ; and are thrown to wild
beasts in the amphitheatres of the large cities in vari-
ous parts of the empire. And I am informed that
thousands of our people are hidden away among the
Catacombs at Rome, and others are hunted like wild
beasts in the forests of Germania and Gaul."

But they were all mistaken in supposing that John's
work was done. The banishment of John was made
use of by the Master to fulfil a promise that he made
to Ecclesia, before he left her. Then it was said
to Ecclesia, that a prophet, and an interpreter or
explainer, would be given her, so that she might learn
what was before her in the v/orld in which she must
stay until she accomplished the work given her to do,

THE PROPHET COMES.

■'. t

: I

I '

One day, as Ecclesia and her friends were talking
over the rumors that were flying in all directions, they
saw approaching them, from the direction of the sea,
an old white-headed man leaning upon the arm of a
man a good deal younger and stronger than himself.
When he came near to them they saw that his face
shone with a brightness that made them think of
Moses when he came down out of the mountain after
his interview with the Lord.

With a voice, that to them seemed like the voice of
an angel, he addressed them, saying, " Little children,
peace be unto you, and may the benedictions of the
Highest and Holiest be with you evermore. Amen !"

At the sound of his voice, Ecclesia remembered him.
It was none other than John himself,

*SbH

A HOMELESS WANDERER.

:^^l!

" I come to you," said he, " at the Master's bidding,
that I may leave with you the words that have been
spoken to me, and the syruboiical pictures that have been
shown to me while I was in banishment. Being alone
on the Island of Patmos, my mind was much disturbed
about the condition of things in connection with the
Master's cause in these times of trial and persecution.
You know, Ecclesia, that you stand before the world
as the representative of that cause in which I and my
fellow apostles labored so hard, and for which we
suficred so much ; so that it was about yourself really
that my fears arose, for if you should be destroyed, or
if you should, under any circumstances, prove untrue
to my Master, he would be without an acknowledged
human agency in all tha world. Having these
thoughts and entertaining these fears, it is not to be
wondered at that I should feel uneasy in regard to
these things. And these Revelations were given to
me to encourage the Church in all the coming years."

" How did you escape from Patmos ? " asked
Ecclesia, who was much interested in what he had
been saying.

" The Emperor Domitian is dead, and Nerva is in
the imperial palace. He is a mild-tempered man, and
does not like to destroy his subjects. He ordered the
suspension of operations against the Christians. And
I took advantage of his clemency to come and deliver
up to you what I have for you, not knowing how soon
there may be a change of emperors, as the present one
is old and feeble."*

Truth said to John, " Thou venerable man of God,
may I be permitted to ask one or two questions ?
Pardon my boldness, but it is not through any idle
inquisitiveness that 1 seek for light, and it is less for

* Nerva only filled the iini)erial throne about two years, but
under him the C. vch had rest,

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

ill
I

myself than for others, that I venture to take such
liberty."

" Ask what you will if it has connection with our
Master's work," answered John.

" My first question is this," said Truth ; " in the
selection of a symbolic representation of his Church,
why did the Master make choice of a woman rather
than a man ? "

He answered, " To a true man there is nothins; so
dear as his wife, if she be a true woman, and if their
union has been of the Lord. Now, the Master has
styled the Church his Bride, which means a woman
married to a man. And in selecting this symbol the
Master intends to show us that nothing is so dear to
him as his Bride, which simply means the true Church.
That does not apply to visible organization of any
particular type, but it refers to the invisible relation
that exists between the Master and the members of his
mystical body; or, in other words it shows that the
relation between himself and those who are his by
adoption and grace is as close and endearing, in the
spiritual sense, as the closest bond known on earth is
in a natural sense. A man that is worthy of the
name of husband will risk his life to save his wife.
The Master has given his life to save the Church — his
Bride. With his own heart's blood he has written his
name upon her forehead and upon her garments. And
as the wife is depending: on her husband for support
and protection, so the Church — the Bride — looks to her
Lord for everything she needs."

" What an encouraging thought," said Faith to
Ecclesia ; *' you need have no fears for the future, the
Master will take care of you."

'* Yes," said Hope ; " these dark days will be ended
some time, and you will be horAored and loved all over
the world."

" Will L'ot that be delightful ? " put in Love, who
had been an earnest listener to all that had been said.

TjTni

A HOMELESS WANDERER.

*' What is your other question ?" asked John, turning
to Truth.

" It is this, venerable instructor," she replied ; " in
reading the records of the Master's life, as they are
given by three of his followers, I fail to find an instance
where a woman said an unkind word about him, or
performed an ungenerous act toward him ; and yet
some who have examined the books written by Paul,
say that he teaches that woman should take no
part in the public worship of the great God. How is
this ? "

" The women always treated the Master wi }h kind-
ness, because they knew by intuition that in him they
had a friend. No system of either philosophy or
religion ever assigned to woman her true position until
Christianity was given to the world. And whatever
Paul intended by his restrictions on woman, he could
not have intended to be thought wiser or better than
the Master. Who was the last object of his solicitude
when in the agonies of death ? His mother, a woman.
Who was the last at the cross and the first at the
sepulchre ? A woman. By whom did he send the
first glad tidings of the resurrection ? A woman.
Paul could not mean to contradict the Lord ; and the
Lord never gave the slightest intimation that he
would close the lips and silence the tongue of woman,
or tie up her hands, so that she might not speak and
sing and work for him; The last face that he looked
upon as he closed his eyes in death was the face
of a woman ; and the first face that he looked upon
after he rose from the dead was the face of a worn; . ;
and the first eyes that looked into his as he came out
of the sepulchre were the eyes of a woman. He could
not intend to debar woman from her share of Chris-
tian work."

'* What are the things that were revealed to you in
Patmos ?" asked Eccleaia.

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

1 1

; 1

" I saw and heard many thini^s which I cannot now
explain to you, but they will be made clear to you at
some time in the future. This roll that I have in my
hand, contains an account of what I saw and heard.
Many of these things are most wonderful. They pre-
sent an outline of the plans of the Master in regard to
the future of his Church or Bride in the world. Part
of these revelations were made to me in words, and
part were given by symbolic representations. Many
of these are a little diificult to understand, but by
patient study and careful investigation, by comparison
with the other sacred writings, and a close observance
of the teachings of history as the world grows older,
these revelations may be made clear enough to become
of great importance in your contests with the sins and
follies of men. Yourself will be seen as a woman
clothed with the sun and with the moon under her
feet, and a crown of twelve stars upon her head. And
a great red dragon will appear upon the scene, and
from his presence you will flee into the wilderness to
remain for many days.

"And further on, another woman will appear riding
on a scarlet-colored beast with seven heads and ten
horns. This woman will claim to be the King's Bride,
and she will hate you and supplant you in the estima-
tion of the nations and kings of the earth. She will
enter into your dwellings and assume your name and
claim your rights ; she will personate you everywhere
as far as it is possible for falsehoods to personate
truth, and for deceit to personate honesty, or for vice
to personate virtue, or sin to personate holiness.
Everywhere, except in the affections of your friends
and in the estimation and love of your Lord, will this
vile woman and her co-workers crowd you out of your
place. She will call you all sorts of bad names, and
make the world believe, for a time, that you are the
false woman and she the true one; and the world,

A HOMELESS WANDERER.

acting on this belief, will kill your friends by thousands
and by millions. And her deceptions will be carried so
far, and her frauds will be so successful that, if it were
posssible, she would deceive your truest and most
faithful friends. She will so blind and bewilder the
nations with her sorceries that they will do what-
ever she tells them to do, no matter how cruel or
wicked or degrading it may be."

" How shall I be able to bear up under all this, and
live through it ? " inquired Ecclesia, with deep feeling.

" You can bear it all and more, if need be," said
Braveheart; "for has not the Master said that his
Church is founded upon a rock, and that the gates of
hell shall not prevail against it ? "

"There is the hope," said John, "and that is the
true statement of the case. Weak in yourself, but in
him you are strong. You will always find help when
you need it."

" How shall we be able to understand the symbols
and figures of speech fouiid in the book that our mistress
has from you ? " asked Truth.

" The Master has made provision for that by sending
an uninspired interpreter, who will stay with you and
give his explanations as the symbols are unfolded.
For the book is to be unfolded page by page, and each
one will be different from all the others, and will need
an explanation of its own. There are three series of
events, with seven in each of the series, making
twenty-one in all. The first one is the opening event,
and the next ten events will mean, in some way, dis-
aster to the Master's cause, and to his Bride the Church.
The other ten events mean, in some way, success and
advancement to the Master's cause and prosperity to
his Church. Then there will appear a great red dragon,
and a beast with seven heads and ten horns, on which
the bad woman is riding. Then a two-horned beast
appears on the scene. And there are a number of other

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

representations, all of which will be explained. Now, I
have delivered my message and finished my work in
this respect, and I must take my leave of you and
return to my home in Ephesus."

He laid his hand on the head of each of them and
gave them his parting counsel, saying, " Little children,
love one another." When he came to Ecclesia he bowed
reverently, and said, ",In standing before you I feel
that I am in the presence of royalty, for it is only a
question of time when you will sit with your Kingly
Lord in the imperial mansion. Well do I remember
the intensity of love that his eyes revealed that day
on the sloping side of the mountain, when he looked
upon you just as he began to climb the fleecy clouds
up to his throne in the highest heavens."

Then he walked away, leaning on the arm of his
friend, leaving Mr. Deeming, the explainer, with
Ecclesia and her friends.

After they had watched the departing figure of the
old apostle until he disappeared in the distance, Hope
commenced to sing in a soft sweet voice :

" I seem to hear the angels saying,
Thou venerable man, come home ;
Long time thy singing and thy praying
Have echoed up to Heaven's dome.

" But now thy work is nearly ended,
Thy steps so feeble, eyes so dim,
'Twere better that thy footsteps wended
Up to thy Lord, to rest in Him."

" Amen," said Love ; " I wish the good old pilgrim
was done with the shadows of earth."

•'^if^

CHAPTER VII.

SYMBOLS EXPLAINED.

AFTER John had gone away, Ecclesia stood for a
few moments in deep thought. Then turn-
ing to Truth, she said, " I shall depend on you to see
that no errors are allowed to creep into the teaching of
our doctrines and precepts, for you must know that
men are so in love with novelties that there is danger
that our cause may be made to suffer through a false
presentation of our system of religion, especially in the
explanations given to the statements found in our
sacred books ; you will need to be on the watch.
These books have been written by different men, and
under a variety of circumstances, and amid different
surroundings, so that great diversity of language and
modes of expression may, and likely will, be found in
them. But there must be an agreement in their
teaching, for they are all written by the inspiration of
the same Spirit, and, consequently, they must harmonize
one with the other."

" That is true," said Truth, " and I shall need sister
Faith to help me in this work ; for unless men have
faith in what is true, they cannot be expected to reject
what is error, or to discriminate between facts and
falsehoods."

'* My work," said Faith, " is not to teach men what
is worthy of belief, so much as it is to help them to

CLOTHED WITH THR SUN.

believe what they are taught. My office is to stimulate
the mind to believe and to trust the truth presented to
it; but I shall do all in my power to help on the good
work in which our mistress is engaged."

" How do you propose to proceed in the unfolding
and explaining the book that has been given to me ?
Now that the latest production to be given by divine
inspiration is in my hands, I feel that a great respon-
sibility is resting on me, and on those who undertake
to speak for me, in the explanation of these sacred
books." This was said to Mr. Deeming, the inter-
preter.

" Our first attempt will be to explain some of the
symbols found in this book ; for without some clear
understanding of these there can be no intelligent
explanation given. These symbols are drawn from
various objects in the natural world, ai ' are intended
to illustrate some fact or series of facts, by using an
object of sense to illustrate an object of thought. It
is simply giving an object-lesson, either by presenting
something tangible to the eye, or by describing in
words something that has been seen by anothe:. In
this way we can use something that can be seen to
give an idea of something that cannot be seen. For
instance, we cannot see anger ; but we can prove its
existence by pointing to an angry person, and using
him as a svmbol of answer. We cannot see ferocious
cruelty; but we can point to a wild beast that is known
to possess these trai' . of character as a symbol of fero-
cious cruelty. We cannot see cunning and craftiness;
but we can point to a fox or to some other thing that is
cunning and crafty, as an emblem of them. We can-
not see tenderness, and innocence, and kindness ; but
we can point to a dove, or a lamb, or to something else
that is remarkable for one or another of these, as an
emblem of them. We cannot see purity; but we can
show a white, clean object, as a symbol of purity."

SYMBOLS EXPLAINED.

They were all very much interested and g-reatly
pleased by Mr. Deeming's explanations. The conver-
sation on sytnbols had been going on for some length of
time, when Truth proposed another question for Mr.
Deeming to answer.

" In what way can a woman be a symbol of the
Church ? What are the points of resemblance between
a woman and the Church ? "

" The resemblance between vhe Church and a good,
true woman may be illustrated in many ways. The
woman depends on those whom she supposes to be
stronger than herself for protection ; so does the
Church look to its great Head for defence and supplies.
And the tenderness of woman towards the weak and
feeble may set forth the sympathy of the Church for the
poor and the lowly.

"And the unselfish mother-love, sometimes called
the maternal instinct, which is found in the heart of
every true woman, whetiier she be married or single,
makes a woman a very fit symbol of the Church in its
unselfish toils for the world's salvation.

" A woman's native modesty makes her an apt repre-
sentative of the Church in its calm and unassuming
aspect in the world. And the inherent love for little
children, that seems to be an element in the heart of
woman, makes her a good synibol of the Church ; and
as the care of children is given to women, so the Church
is to care for all the world, and to try to do good to
all."

" Your explanations seem very reasonable, and I am
sure that they are interesting, at least, they afe so to
me," said Ecclesia, as Mr. Deeming ceased speaking.

*' I like them very much," said Love. " They seem
to draw the Church closer to the race of sufferers ; for
I am sure that if a woman's love for children is a pic-
ture of the Church's love for those who are placed
under her care, they will by no means be neglected."

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CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

Mr. Deeming spoke again, and said : *' While the
true Church is symbolized bj^ a true woman, a back-
slidden and corrupt church is symbolized by a woman
that is false to her husband and untrue to her chil-
dren. An unfaithful wife and unnatural mother, that
has proved h' i-self to be a traitor to every endearing
relation subsi ing in the family circle, is the well-
selected emblem of an unfaithful and corrupt church,"

" Are there any such churches now in existence ? "
inquired Hope.

" Probably none that have gone the full length of
entire apostasy as yet ; but the time will come when
the pretended church will be very aptly represented
by the bad woman that we have supposed ; but we will
find enough of that before we r^t throufjh with the
prophecies to be found in the revelations that John
got on the island. Meanwhile we will wait for further
developments."

A BOOK OF WONDERS.

After this conversation on the subject of symbols,
they commenced to talk about other matters in con-
nection with the condition and prospects of the Church
that Ecclesia represented. Truth was particularly in ■
terested in the question of what would be taught in
the book that had been written on Patmos. Hope was
buoyant and enthusiastic ; Faith was placid, and un-
emotional ; while Love was forgetful of difficulties and
dangers in her earnest desire to do somethinor in some
way to help some one out of trouble.

" The book that Truth speaks of," said Ecclesia, " is
not the only book whose teachings are of great impor-
tance to us, and which it is needful that we should
understand, in order that we may be prepared fully
for our work in the world."

'• What books have you ? " inquired Faith.

SYMBOLS EXPLAINED.

101

She replied, " I have a number of them. I have
three letters from John himself, which were written
,«ome thirty years ago, and besides these he has written
a record of the Master's life. Then I have the life of
the Master, written by the publican, one by a physi-
cian, and one by a travelling companion of Cephas.
Then I have no less than fourteen letters from Paul, in
which are many things hard to be understood. 1 have
also a letter from James, and two from Cephas, and
one from Judas, and a short history of the acts of my
early and faithful friends before the Romans destroyed
our ancient city. Besides all of these, I have the
books of Moses and the Prophets, as well as the poeti-
cal hooks of olden times ; so you see that I have a good
deal of literature of a very instructive and elevating
character to present to the people with whom I may
come in contact."

"Do you think, Mr. Deeming, that you will be able
to explain all of these books ? " asked Truth.

" As to that," replied Mr. Deeming, " it would require
an inspired interpreter to make clear all that will be
found in these books. There are so many subjects
treated of, so many different writers, and such a
diversity of style, that it can hardly be expected that
any one person, unless divinely inspired, could explain
everything ; but by a careful and prayerful study of
the books, and a knowledge of the times and circum-
stances under which they were written, we may come
to pretty safe conclusions as to their meanings."

" Which of these writings are most difficult to ex-
plain ? " inquired Ecclesia.

" The prophetic writings, especially the symbolical
parts of prophecy," was answered. " Plain statements
of future events are simply history written before the
events described come to pass ; but explaining pre-
dictions of future events by symbols is very much
more difficult, because we have a two-fold task — iirst,

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102

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

to understand the language of symbols ; and second, to
give its exact meaning in words — that is, to find an
exact equivalent for it in plain language.

" Now, in explaining John's Patmos production, we
cannot see the symbolic representations as he saw
them. We have to take his written description of
what he saw, and make out what is meant by them.
This is, perhaps, more difficult than it would be if we
could see just what John saw, and as he saAV it."

" There are many things for us to learn from these
books, and it is desirable that we should willingly and
thankfully receive the instruction given to us by our
friend,"* said Truth.

" It seems to me," said Hope, " that the subject of
these mysteries is like a sun-lit cloud. Though it is
dark on the one side it is light on the other.''

Ecclesia said, " In response to what Hope has been
saying, let us all join and sing :

" Mysterious depths seem all around me,

And hidden wonders oft appear ;

But nothing ever shall confound me,

Long as I heave my Helper near.

" Still onward then by faith I travel,

Though darkness gathers o'er my way ;
Knowing full well He can unravel
And make eacii mystery plain as day."

" Amen ! " said Braveheart, " let ' Onward, ever on-
ward,' be our motto ; and let our watchword be ' The
Lord is our helper, and no foe we fear when he is
near.

Ecclesia said, " Perhaps wo had better hear some-
thing more from Mr. Deeming on the subject of
symbols before we begin to unroll the Patmos Reve-
lations."

" The subject," said Mr. Deeming, " is a deep one,
and an extensive one, because the symbols are gathered

SYMBOLS EXPLAINED.

103

from such an almost unlimited range of objects. From
the sun in the heavens all the way down to the small
flowers that grow under the shadow of our homes,
objects are found that are used as symbols, and to
understand the meanings of each one in the connection
in which it is found, is no easy matter A symbol
cannot agree, in every particular, with the person or
thing for which it stands. It is only in one or more
particulars that the resemblance is found.

" A man cannot be a s3'^mbol of himself, nor can he
be a symbol of another man. He may fully represent
another, but, being a man, he cannot be the symbol of
a man."

" What rule have you for the interpretation of sym-
bols ? " inquired Truth.

" One rule, and it seems to be a safe one, is this,"
replied Mr. Deeming : " Seek for an explanation that
will apply to the same symbol in every case where it
is found in the sacred books. The symbols of Scrip-
ture never mean one thing in one placf. and something
else in another place. By keeping to this rule we
shall avoid confusion and contradictions in our inter-
pretations."*

" That seems to be reasonable," said Ecclesia.

" Another rule is to seek the most striking points of
resemblance between the two things compared, for
there really is a comparison implied if not expressed."

" What is the difference between a symbol and a
parable ? " inquired Ecclesia.

" In a parable, one thing is said to be like another
thing, but in the symbol, one thing stands for
another. For instance, in a parable, a bold and strong

*The writer is (|uite well aware that this rule would be an
inconvenient one for those who make the symbols to mean one
thing here and another thing there, just to suit a capric >r a
dogma or preconceived notion, as the case may be, l)ut ^v . are
not writing for such.

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104

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

man might be said to be like a lion ; but in the symbol
a lion would stand for a bold, strong man. In the
parable, a cunning, crafty man would be like a fox ;
but in the symbol the fox would stand for cunning
craftiness."

" I see the difference," said T^uth, " though I had not
thought of it before. In the symbol the true meaning
lies further from the surface, it seems to me, than it
does in the parable."

" That is true," replied Mr. Deeming, " and for this
reason it is more difficult to explain the one than it
is the other."

Hope spoke, and said, " I am expecting to be very
much interested and greatly profited when we come
to the explanations of these symbols that are found in
t^ ; sacred books."

*' I am ready now," said Mr. Deeming, " to commence
the study of the Patmos Revelations ; I suppose you
have them with you ? " turning to Ecclesia.

" Yes, they are here, just as I got them from the
hand of John," she replied.

" Well, you will read, and I will try to give the
meaning of what you read."

THINGS THAT NOW ARE.

Ecclesia opened the book and began to read how
John had been in Patmos. On the Lord's-day he had
a visit from no less a personage than his Lord and
Master, who told him to write a book and send it to
the seven Churches which are in Asia.

" Before going any further," said Ecclesia, " there is
one thing that I should like to ask you, and it is this,
If I am a symbol of the Church, how can there be
seven Churches while I am only one ? "

" That is a very natural question," said he, " and I
am not sorry that you have called it up now, for we

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SYMBOLS EXPLAINED.

105

will tind frequent occasions in which we shall meet
with the same seeming difficulty — I say seeming, be-
cause there is no real difficulty in the case. The word
church has different shades of meaning, and it is used
to convey ideas that are by no means identical. First,
it may 'uean a building in which people meet for
religious worship ; second, the people who worship
together in one place, a congregation ; third, a number
of congregations holding the same doctrines and hav-
ing the same form of government — called a denomina-
tion ; fourth, all Christians everywhere — the Church
universal or catholic ; and fifth, it has a specific and
restricted meaning, in which it applies only to persons
who are living members of the household of faith,
who are adopted into the family of God. This is
called the invisible Church, and its members may be
found in all of the branches of the visible Church.
This is the Church of which you are a symbol.

" The visible Churches may be many or few ; they
may be filled with ardor, or dull with apathy ; they
may be warmed with love and zeal, or chilled with
cold inaction and indifference."

" Can a person be a member of the invisible Church
and not belong to any of the visible Churches ? " in-
quired Love.

" Yes," said Mr. Deeming ; " it is possible to be a
member of the invisible Church and not of the visible
Church. The one Church is of divine origin and is
divinely instituted ; the other one is a human organi-
zation, arranged with divine permission for the pur-
pose of assisting us in our work of serving the Master
and securing and retaining a membership in the invisi-
ble Church. Certain ordinjinces and rites have been
given to the Church by its founder. These have been
made the common property of all the Churches, by
permission to use without abusing them."

" Thank you," said Ecclesia, " for these explanations.
8

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106

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

I am sure they are interesting to me, and I think to
my friends, also. I will now resume my reading."
She read on till she came to a passage that said, " The
seven stars are the angels of the seven Cliurches, and
the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven
Churches."

" What is meant by these allusions to stars and
candlesticks ? " inquired Ecclesia.

Mr. Deeming replied, " The candlestick is for the
purpose of holding a lighted candle so that the light
may shine in all directions and fill the house with its
rays. The candlestick, with the lighted candle in it, is
a very appropriate symbol of a living Church planted
in a city. No place that is not the better by having a
Christian Church in it. The removing of the candle-
stick means the taking away church privileges and
church influences."

" Then a Church that is cold and dead would be
like a candlestick without a candle ? It would not be
of much use in any place," said Truth.

" That is so," replied Mr. Deeming. " The candle
could shine without the candlestick, but the candlestick
could not give light without the candle ; so light and
truth can live and spread by their own inherent force ;
but a Church without spiritual life and light and
truth can be of but little use anywhere."

" Well, what about the stars ? " asked Ecclesia.

"The stars mean the ministers of the churches,"
replied Mr. Deeming. " They might more properly be
called planets, in this connection. The stars, proper,
shine by their own light, but the planets shine by the
light of the sun, so the ministers of the Church are
supposed to be enlightened- by the Sun of Righteous-
ness, and to reflect this light as the planet does the
light that it borrows from the sun,"

" We will do well to remember these things," said
Hope, " as we may need to apply these explanations in
the future."

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SYMBOLS EXPLAINED.

107

While they were talking 30 earnestly they had not
noticed two lame old men approaching them, but now
their attention was called to the fact. Ecclesia at
(mce knew that her former visitors were coming again;
for the new-comers were our old acquaintances, Doubt-
some and Fearsome.

As they came up, Mr. Fearsome said, " You do not
know, fair lady, how much my friend and I am
pleased to see you again. We have often talked about
you since we left you in Jerusalem in so much peril.
We admired your fortitude at the time, but we thought
that you had no chance to get out of the city alive.
How did you succeed in making your escape ? "

" We simply obeyed our orders given to us by the
Master. We went out of the city when the Romans
retired from before it, so that when they came haci
we were all away from danger, and not one of ou/
people were destroyed,"* she answered.

"That was very fortunate," put in Doubtsome, "and
it shows that fate never forsakes the brave."

" It shows that Divine Providence never disappoints
those who submit to his guidance," said Truth, with
some degree of warmth.

*■' Well," said Doubtsome, " we will not contend about
what name to call the cause of our lady's safety. It
is enough to know that she is safe so far, at all events,
whatever may be awaiting her in the future."

Hope commenced to sing, while the rest listened to
her:

' The future as the past shall be
Not subject to some blind decree
Of fate, but to a Father's will,
And we will trust His guidance still.
Then let the doubters pass along
And sing their melancholy song,
And in their frenzy let them prate
Of actions done by senseless fate ;

* It is said that of eleven hundred thousand that perished in
the destruction of Jerusalem there was not one Christian.

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108

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CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

We sooner trust a higher power
Wliose wisdom j, aides us every hour. '

" Well done, sister Hope," exclaimed Truth ; ' you
ha.ve covered the whole f^round in a few words ; for
I am sure that we all will sanction what you have
said."

"That is very fine talk," said Doubtsome, bitterly;
"but things are taking a sudden turn with the Emperor.
For some reason he has changed his whole d'^portment
towards your people. The clemency and kindness
with which he has treated them since the commence-
ment of his reign he has thrown aside, and he has
inaugurated a policy of stern persecution.* All over
the empire the Christians are being hunted like beasts
of the forest. Your young maidens may have to sing
a different kind of song before long."

" I am very much alarmed, for your safety is very
doubtful," said Fearsome to Ecclesia. " If the Em-
peror should decide on your death ai-J the entire
extermination of j^our people, it would be a terrible
event. Nothing more heartrending has ever taken
place in the hiscory of the empire, because your people
have become so numerous. From letters written to
the Emperor by the governors of provinces, it is found
that the Christians, as they are now generally called,
are found everywhere and in all conditions of life. To
exterminate your friends would be to destroy millions
of people."

" If what you say is true in regard to the change in
the Emperor's treatment of my friends, it is a sad thing,
indeed ; but I do not see that there is anything that I

'"'The third general persecution of Christians began about
A.D. 107, under Trajan. In a letter to the Emperor, Pliny says,
" That the temples of pagan worship had been nearly deserted
when this persecution commenced, but by allowing the Chris-
tians to live if they recanted, many were induced to relapse into
idolatry."

SYMBOLS EXPLAINED.

109

can do to change the course of events one way or the
other," said Ecclesia.

" What he says is true in regard to the change in
Trajan's policy. Some of our most useful and honored
friends have recently been put to death by his order,"*
said Truth.

Fearsome said, in reply to Ecclesia, " There is one
thing that you might do that w^ould go a long way to-
wards mitigating the rioor of the law that has been
passed, by which your people are entangled. The
Emperor has not passed the law against Christians, so
much as against secret societies. And it is on this
point that the law gets hold of your people. You
might escape persecution by divulging your secrets, and
let the world know just what you do in your so-called
religious meetings."

Ecclesia answered, "We have nothing either in our
teaching or in our practices that we would be ashamed
to let all the world see and hear, so far as these things
are concerned. If we hold ourselves aloof from the
world, it is because we cannot do as the world docs ; and
if our meetings are held in secret places, it is because
the hostility of the world has driven us to such places.
If the world would treat us with justice, we would give
the world our confidence, and then it would soon be
seen that we have been fearfully misunderstood.''^

" This has been a lengthy digression from the sub-
ject that we were discussing when we were interrupted
by our unexpected and uninvited visitors," put in Mr.
Deemin^f.

"If we are intruders," said Doubtson^e, "my friend
and I will withdraw at once. But, in the innocence of

* The reign of Trajan was disgraced by the death of Ignatius,
who had been Bishop of Antioch forty years.

f Tlie early Christians were charged by their enemies with the
most atrocious deeds. Among other things, they were accused of
sacrificinii their infants to devils,

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CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

>■ \i

our hearts, we supposed that our lady would be willing
to hear the truth ; but, if it be otherwise, it is our mis-
fortune to have made an awkward mistake, and to have
come where we are not wanted."

" For what truth you have told me I am thankful ;
but for your pretended solicitude, and for your
gratuitous advice, thei'e is no necessity," replied
Ecclesia, with more of sarcasm in her words and
manner than she was in the habit of exhibitinj^.

The two friends went- off together with a look of
disappointtnent upon their faces. They were heard to
say one to the other, " We have failed once more ; but,
never mind, we will circumvent that woman yet."

" We were talking about stars and ministers," said
Mr. Deeming ; " and we will return to the subject if
you have no objection."

" Very well," said Ecclesia. " The stars and the
candlesticks we are told represent the ministers and
churches. Now, I would like to know which is of the
most importance, the Church or the minister ; or, in
other words, is the Church the property of the minister,
or is he the property of the Church ? "

" In the sense of proprietorship, nMther owns the
other," replied Mr. Deeming ; " but there is a .sense in
which each belongs to the other. The minister is the
servant of the Church, and labors for its advancement
every way in his power ; while the Church is his field
of toil, as well as his patron and provider."

" We sometimes .see .stars falling : what would that
symbolize ? " asked Faith.

" We .shall have to defer the consideration of that
question till some future time ; in the meantime we
will prepare for the opening of the books which
Ecclesia has in her hands," said Mr. Deeming. "Then
we shall have time to go into the whole subject of the
relations between the Church and her ministers, and
the duties and pierogatives of each."

CHAPTER VIII.

A SEALED BOOK.

W'^

are now on the marorin of a field of
won<lers," Mr. Deeming said to Ecclesia, as
they came tooether again at their usual place of
meeting.

"Yes, that is so," she answered ; " I have been look-
ing into this Patmos Revelation, and it becomes more
mysterious the further I get in it. We shall find a
great many things that will need to be explained before
we are through the book."

' Read some more from the roll, commencing where
you left oft' before," Mr. Deeming said.

" I will pass over the messages to the seven
Churches," she said, "and will read about what John
saw in heaven when he went there, through what
seemed to him like an open door. He says a voice
called him, and he at once, in spirit, went into the
presence of one sitting on a glorious throne."

Truth inquired, " What is meant by the term heaven
as it is founcT in the sacred books ? "

Mr. Deeming replied, " The term has a variety of
meanings. It sometimes signifies the throne of God,
sometimes the home of angels and redet.ned men,
sometimes the imporial city of Jehovah's empire, some-
times the starry firmament or sidereal heavens. But

l-r

itilii

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112

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

Wl'fn it applies to T nut ?''. '""mphant .st,,to
Me, to distinguish betwee?fh- '" "^■'^ '^"f''' it t
secular; between eccleswl^"^'' ■""='<^'' «"'' thin-s
governtt.ent.s. *<"='«'"»«t>eal organizations and dvil

^^"::::!,^ti^:;^ ^ ■•■' '« •>« un.er.too.

things there. And from thnf l!. i ^"^ conditions of
oolced down upon tlT !,r!, f' """'"?« Sfo'ind he
t "nff« as they then existed if rT^- ^'''""'■r and saw
t.on with human society" ' " ''''"■°" '« her connec

and rw7n";?,rrs '4';"^ :'"" !' ''^ -'" "">' four
in tlie m dst of tho *l! ° around the thronp n,wi

beajsts; she turned to Mr DeeT' ''^°""'' '' vve"e Tu
understand this. Who ar^X:"-,:^"'' '^-id. ■■ I canno
these beasts doing so near th„ if '^'^''''' ""^ *'>at are
^ Mr. Deemin.r renlind " T, """""^ '

,''°'^Prophetie''and^y,nbohcaV"TK ''T'^"^'^'^ '■"^e is
the heads of the twX« i *u ^''<' "^'dei-s represent

»3;n'boIi.e the Jewi. rclur h '' ,1 ^•"•''«'' »'h« here

:;p-einappe™-;t%?-t^ttre5!|

You say that this scene ic ■

symbolical. What is nr„ i • ^ P^Phetic as well as
, . ; The feet that tV: rSse^at'^ V" -'-d^T th'
sh and Christian Church '"T"' ^^"^^ "' 'he Jew

throne, is a proof thaS two A^^'^'^'- -^''onnd t^e
heaven, although thev Tft- j Churches are one in

this being the'case 4 mav h " ™"'"' ^''■'- And
P-nt, state Of the Ch^u^ne;:,tte neither .rfj

ilf

A SEALED BOOK.

113

nor Greek, so in tlie Church triumphant there will
he neither Jew nor Christian. This is the thing pro-
phesied," said Mr. Deeming.

BEASTS IN HEAVEN.

" What are these beasts, and why are they in
heaven ?" oskc . •cl'jsia.

" Two word, are used in this book in describing
animal life. On^. .^j^ans ravenous beast, and the other
means living creature. Now, a ravenous beast before
the throne would be a strange sight ; but a living crea-
ture would not be out of place even before the throne.
Probably these belong to the class with Eaekiel's living
creatures, or it may be that they are intended to repre-
sent the emblematic figures on the banners of the four
grand divisions of the Israelitish camp. But whatever
they were, they could not have been either animals or
angels. They nuist, in some way, be associated with
humanity, for they join with the elders and with the
innumerable company in saying that the Lamb had
redeemed them to God, and washed them in his
own blood out of every kindred and tongue and
people."

" What do you think is meant by singing a new
song ? Can there be anything new in heaven ?" in-
quired Hope.

" There is a song that was not always sung in
heaven," said Mr. Deeming. " The song of redemption
was not sung until the first saved human soul went
there. There are some songs that are appropriate for
either men or angels, but angels cannot sing ' He hath
redeemed us,' for it would not be true. But men can
sing that new song, and it is true they have been
redeemed."

" Does it not sav that the ansfels joined in the son«jf
along with every creature that is in heaven and on
the earth and in the sea ? " asked Truth,

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CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

I , \

" The angels joined in the chorus," said Mr. Deem-
ing. " If you read carefully what is written, you will
see that there is nothino: said of beino redeemed in the
song that the angels join in and take a part. They, in
common with all creation, except the fallen angels,
give glory and honor to the great Creator and to the
Lamb as a chorus to the song of redemption. This
they could properly do after listening to the song sung
by the redeemed from earth. They are as much inter-
ested for the divme glory as men, and they have as
much right to praise him as creator and benefactor
as men have. And when they hear men praising God
for all that they can praise him for, and for redemp-
tion besides, they are glad, and they honor him
accordingly."

" What about the other kind of animals besides the
living creatures ?" asked Ecclesia.

" There are two words used by which animal life is
set forth in the sacred books. One means living
creature, the other is beast. But in symbolism, living
creature may mean any cr ature that lives, whether
it be animal, man or anijel. But the term beast, as a
symbolism, means something that gives trouble to the
Church of God — some persecuting power that can be
represented by a fierce and blood-thirsty wild animal,
such as a lion, bear, leopard, and the fabled dragon."

" One of the living creatures that stood before the
throne was like a lion ; how could that be if that
animal is a symbol of ferocious cruelty?" inquired
Truth.

Mr. Deeming replied, " The lion is placed at the
head of animal nature, and is called the king of beasts
— his strenLjth and courage are the noblest traits of
his nature. These are not the outgrowth of the
beastly nature, as cruelty, ferocity, bloodthirstiness
and savageness are. These living creatures were on a
sea of glass, which seems to encircle the throne. There

A SEALED BOOK.

115

is also an eagle on this sea of glass. The eagle is the
king: of birds as the lion is of beasts. Another living
creature that stood on this sea of glass was like an ox.
Here, then, we have the symbols of strength and cour-
age, patient endurance, and speed of flight and clear-
ness of vision in these three representatives of the
animal creation ; but they have lost the merely brutal
parts of their natures, and have retained the parts that
are adapted to living creatures in any place or to any
condition of existence."

WHO WILL OPEN IT ?

Ecclesia read on a little further, to where John saw
a book in the hand of him that sat on the throne that
was encircled by a sea of glass. Then she read that
the book was t-oaled \vith seven seals ; then an
angel calls for some one to come forward and open
the seals and read the book. But no one was found
worthy to open the book or even to look on it.

John was so much affected because no one was
found anywhere that could open the book, that he
wept much Then one of the elders told him not to
weep, for the Lion of the tribe of Judah and the root
of David had prevailed to open the book and unloose
the seals thereof. «

" What book do j'ou think that was?" asked Ecclesia.
" Was it a book that had never been seen before, or
was it some old book that was about to be re-
opened ? "

Mr. Deeming answered, " The book in the hand of
him that sat on the throne is one that was sealed up
many years ago. One of the old prophets saw it
and read a part of it. It is a prophetic history of
what is to happen to God's people in the coming times.
The old prophet read on till he caine to a certain point

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CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

till ' »
1 il!

m \:\

of time, then he was told to go his way, and then the
book was closed and sealed up."*

Truth inquired what prophet was it that had
seen this book, and why was it sealed up at the time ?

" It was Daniel, the statesman prophet," said Mr.
Deeming. " He had presented to him a prophetic his-
tory of four great kingdoms that was to arise one after
the other. AW of them were to be, more or Xesa, the
enemies of the Jews, who then were the representatives
of the Church. All of these kingdoms were symbol-^
ized by wild beasts, which shows that they were per-
secutors of God's people."

" What kingdoms were those whose history the
prophet saw sj^mbolized by the wild beasts ? Were
they kingdoms that have passed away, or are they yet
to arise in the future ? " inquired Ecclesia.

" They w^ere kingdoms, three of which have lost their
power, and the fourth now rules the world," said Mr.
Deemin'T. " Two great empires had passed away at
the timr .hat Daniel wrote — the Chaldean and the
Assyrian -so that these come not within the range of
his vision. When Daniel wrote his prophecy, he and
his countrymen were captives in Babylon, which was
the capital of the Babylonian empire. This was
symbolized by a lion. After this came the Medo-
Persian empire, which was symbolized by a bear. The
third was the Greek or Macedonian empire, symbolized
by a leopard. The fourth was the Roman empire,
symbolized by a bea.st that is not named or classified,
but is described as one that is great and terrible, and
having teeth of iron and claws of brass. This is the
beast that has to do with the Christian Church, as the
others had to do with the Jewish Church."

* See Daniel xii. 9. Daniel's visions seem to have reached to
the end of the Roman Empire, and the Revelations take up
the thread of prophecy where Daniel left off.

■MM

k SEALED BOOK.

117

" Was not Egypt a persecutor and an oppressor of the
people of God ? " asked Truth.

" Yes ; Eorypt was the greatest oppressor that the
Jewish Church ever had to contend with until the
Romans came. But Egypt had been a part of the
Babylonian empire for many years before the times
of Daniel, so that it was part of the kingdom
symbolized by the lion in the visions," was Mr. Deem-
ing's reply.

" And you say that the fourth beast is the Roman
empire, that is now the ruler of the worl^, or nearly
so,"* said Truth.

Ecclesia was much affected by this conversation, and
with a trembling voice she sang :

" And can it be that I must fight

A beast so terrible and great ;
That I, who have so little might,

Must try this monster to defeat ?
How can I stand before a power

That tramples all the kingdoms down,
Which mountains, seas and valleys scour.

For trophies to bedeck its crown ? "

Here Faith and Hope joined together, and sang for
the encourasrement of their mistress :

" 'Tis not the swift that wins the race.

Nor does the strong the battle gain ;
And beauty's charms and winning grace

Cannot secure from care and pain :
But there's an arm that's mightier still

Than haughty Rome with all her pride ;
And He who wields it surely will

Take care of her He calls His Bride."

Ecclesia commenced again to read, and she read on
till she came to where John saw standinsf in the midst

* It appears that Rome never conquered Parthia nor China and
other Eastern countries.

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CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

ifl

of the throne, and of the four living creatures, and of
the elders, a lamb as though it had been slain ; and the
lamb had seven horns and seven eyes.

She stopped reading, and turning to the interpreter,
said, '■' What is the nieaninn: of this ? A lamb in the
midst of the throne, and in the circle of the living
creatures and the elders ; and the lamb had been slain.
Who does this lamb symbolize ? for I feel confident
that it represents some person or thing other than
itself."

He answered, " The lamb here seen, and the lion of
the tribe of Judah, who is to open the book, both
symbolize the same person, but they do not represent
the same facts in connection with that person."

" Who is that person ? " asked Truth.

Mr. Deeming replied, " He is the world's Redeemer,
our Lord and King. The lion represents his strength
and conquering power ; the lamb represents his ten-
derness, his sinlessness and his love. The seven horns
set forth the perfection of his power in government,
for seven is a perfect number in the sacred writings,
and the horn is the symbol of governing power. The
eye is the symbol of wisdom, hence the seven eyes
mean that he has the perfection of wisdom. The
throne symbolizes the seat of government. The lamb
being in the midst of the throne shows that he takes
an active part in administering the government of the
kingdom."

" How is it that the lamb appeared as if it was
slain ? " inquired Ecclesia.

" This symbolizes, the atoning work of the Redeemer
in dying for the sins of the world, and the appearance
of the lamb as it was slain, all stained with its own
blood, is a standing memorial of the sacrificial suffering
and death of him who became a sin-offerinor for us."

She read again until the Lamb is said to have taken
book out of the hand of him that sat on the

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A SEALED BOOK.

119

throne. Then the four living creatures and the four
and twenty elders fell before him and sung a new
song, saying, " Thou wast slain and hast redeemed
us to God by thy blood, out of every kindred, and
tongue, and people, and nation. And thou liast
made us kings and priests unto God, and we shall
reign en the earth."

Ecclesia stopped again, and in great '>arnestness
said, " I confess that I am at a loss what to make of
all this. My mind is bewildered, and I am confused.
The lion and the lamb, and the living creatures, and
the elders, all in a group around the throne, and then
a vast multitude of people all singing and praising
God and the Lamb."

" And besides all this," said Truth, " they are all
standing on the sea of glass that surrounds the throne
upon which God and the Lamb are sitting. What
does all this mean ? "

Mr. Deeming replied, " I will try to tell you what
they mean, so far as I am able. The ^ea is a symbol
of society under the regimen of some sort of religious
teaching, and influenced by its restraints on man's
religious nature. Clear, fresh, living water represents
truthful teaching, and pure, and good, and elevating
influences ; and the bitter, distasteful and unwholei-
some waters of the salt sea represent the corrupt, false
and misleading doctrines of false teachers, and the
unholy, degrading, and soul-destroying influences that
follow such teaching.

" To avoid confusion, the sacred writers make the
rivers and fountains of water symbolize truthful teach-
ings and goodly influences. This distinction is carried
through the sacred writings ; and the salt, bitter waters
mean the opposite.

" Now, one of the old prophets tells of a river of clear,
fresh water that runs into the sea, and the water of

120

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

the sea is healed thereby.* The fact set forth by this
sea of j^lass, or glassy sea, seems to be simply this :
The truths of the Gospel are so solid and its influences
so pure, that the redeemed millions who yielded to the
one and trusted in the other find themselves ai, last
standing before the throne upon a foundation jlear
and transparent as crystal and hard as glass.f It
represents a state of society not under a sea of errors
and superstitions, because the healing waters of the
river of divine truth have flowed into the corrupt sea
of human falsehoods in religion and philosophy, and
have healed its poisoned and polluted waters."

Truth spoke now, and said, " I do not wish to be too
inquisitive, but can you tell me why all creation seem,
from the reading of this roll, to be so much interested
in the subject, that when the Lamb took the book out
of the hand of him that held it, a universal chorus
broke forth in heaven among the angels, and every
creature in the sea and on the earth and under the
earth joined the song of praise to him that sitteth
upon the throne and to the Lamb?"

" This," said Mr. Deeming, " is a very interesting
subject, and one around which cluster some of the
sublimest truths that ever occupied the attention of
men or of angels. We must remember that man is
placed on the middle ground between two creations —
one above him and the other below him. He stands be-
tween the spiritual and the corporeal ; the angel and the
animal join in man, so that he contains in himself the
nature of both. In fact, man is an epitome of the uni-,
verse. Angels look down to him as a younger brother,
animals look up to him as standing at the head of

* See Ezekiel's vision of the holy waters, where these explana-
tions are strongly supported. (Chapter xlvii. 8. )

t If the reader can find a better explanation the writer would
be very thankful to hear from him.

A SEALED BOOK.

121

the animal creation. Angels look upon him as one who
has carried their nature into a region where they
never could have carried it ; animals look upon him as
one who has lifted their nature to a dignity that they
never could have reached. So that all creation is
interested in human redemption."

" Where has man carried the nature of anf;els into a
region that they never could have carried it ^ ' inquired
Truth.

Mr. Deeming answered, " The intellectual and moral
nature of man is what he has in common with the
angels, his physical, corporeal nature he has in com-
mon with the animals; from this union is developed an
emotional nature that seems to be exclusively human,
since there is no evidence that it is found either in
angels or in the animals. Hence human nature has
something a little lower than the angels, and some-
thing higher than the animals. So the angel can say,
' My brother has got lower down than I could get,' and
the animal might say, ' My brother has got higher up
than I could go.' Man has carried the angelic nature
into the region of corporeal existence, and he has
carried animal nature into the domain of intellectual
life, without losing the identity of either."

They had been so deeply interested in what Mr.
Deeming had been saying, that they did not notice
that a stranger was approaching, but such was the
case. On looking around, they saw a man of noble
bearing, and somewhat past middle life. None need
to be told that he was a Roman. Every feature and
every movement proclaimed that he was a citizen of
that country that was mistress of the world. Coming
up to them he respectfully addressed Ecclesia, saying,
" How is it with my patrician lady and her atten-
dants. I am Scribonius, and I am lately from Rome. I
am a Christian, and I bear to you the greetings of
your suffering, persecuted friends."

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" Are they suffering much ? " asked Ecclesia, in a i'al-
terinfir tone ot voice.

"Yes," said Scrihonius ; "when the sword fell from
the palsied hand of Trajan, Adrian took it np, and the

when I think of the noble men and M'omen that I have
known who have been put to death in a more heart-
less and cruel manner than they would have been if
Uiey were the greatest criminals on earth. While
l^ishop Clement lived he exercised a sort of modifvino-
influence oyer the public sentiment of Rome, so that
Jess barbarity was practised than had been in vocrue

Jr f^ ,Pr ""^ ^'t^''^ ^"^^ Domitian ; but since "the
death of Clement there is no one to fill his place as an
advocate ot the rights of the Christians, and they are
sutlering severely. j «- ^

"You spoke of Nero; do you remember anythincr
about him ? You would be quite young at the time
that he sat on the imperial throne," safd Ecclesia to
fecribonius.

He answered "I was a boy at the time, but some of

the scenes that I witnessed impressed themselves so

indelibly upon my memory that I shall never forget
them while I live. ^

^nr^Jt^^^"" ^-^\ '^f "S^ Christians put to death in
Kome ? inquired Mr. Deeming.

"Oh, yes," said Scribonius; "before I became a
Christians'"^' witnessed the execution of

^J^Were you not sorry for them ? " timidly inquired

He answered "I used to be sorry for some of them,
especially the children ; but at the time I really thouo-ht
that they deserved it." ^ ^

^l^'t-^'^'i '!^^^^'?f children were sometimes put to
death r asked Truth.

Yes, they were often put to death with their

((

A SEALED BOOK.

12S

parents. Whole families were sometimes killed,"
replied Scribonius.

" Which was the most heartless and cruel in his
treatment of the Christians, Nero or Domitian or
Trajan ? " inquired Truth.

" No emperor that ever sat on the imperial throne in
Rome could equal Nero in barbarous cruelty, or com-
pare with him in devising ways and means of torture
whereby to inflict the extremest suti'ering upon his
helpless victims," replied Scribonius.

" What was it that so incensed Nero against the
Christians ? " inquired Ecclesia.

He replied, " The emperors have all been opposed
to the Jews, and th^^ Christian religion started from
Jerusalem, and the itomans did not make any distinc-
tion, at first, between Jews and Christians. Then, as
the Christians became better known, the blameless
purity of their lives was a standing reproof to the
wickedness of the Pagans and Jews with whom they
were surrounded.

" But Nero was cruel and vindictive by nature, and
besides this, he had another reason for hating the
Christians. It was this : When Paul was a prisoner the
first time he had a good many opportunities to come
in contact with the citize'^-; and explain to them his
religion. After about two years the Emperor gave
him a public hearing, and allowed him to explain what
he believed, what he taught, and what he hoped for.
At that time impressions were made on the mind of
old Seneca, the Stoic philosopher, who had been Nero's
tutor, and young Clement, the son of one of Rome's
proudest patrician families, that never left them. The
old man was killed shortly after by his former pupil
Nero; and the young man, ai ei -^.n honored and useful
life, has recently died as Bishop o)' Rome. Hundreds
of others that heard Paul on that occasion forsook
their idols and became Christians. The enemies of

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■<■ ii'

Christianity declareil that by allowinL; the orator from
Jerusalem to speak in public, Nero had filled Rome
with Christians. This came to the Emperor's ears,
and it so enraged him that he declared that he would
rid the city and the empire of the hated sect.

"Nero had been so much impressed with Paul's
manner and address that day that he set him at
liberty, and Paul left Rome and went away to visit
and encourage the Churches. But now, Nero sent and
arrested Paul, and he was l)rought to Rome and
beheaded, Cephas was put to death at the saine time ;
but, not being a Roman citizen, he was crucified with
his head downwards."

" WhL.t other methods did Nero practise of annoying
and destroying the Christians ? " asked Truth.

" He had many devices," replied Scribonius. "Some-
times he would cast them to the hungry wild beasts in
the amphitheatre. Sometimes he would have them
tied to the tails of wild horses and then turn them
loose, so that the frightened animals would kick them
to death. Others he would have built into stone walls
as chinking. But it seemed to me that none of his
methods w'as so utterly heartless as using the Chris-
tians as torches for his courtesans to have light to
dance by."

" Did he do that ? " inquired Love, with a trembling
voice.

"Yes, frequently," was the reply. " And I remem-
ber one terrible night for the poor Christians, when
hundreds of them were burned to death as torches.
Nero had had a dispute with his mother, who had
chided him for setting fire to the city, and then he laid
it on the Christians. He stabbed and killed his
mother. Then he declared with an oath that he would
make Rome too hot for the Christians. He ordered a
grand carnival, when all the pimps in the city were
invited to come on a certain night and join the licentious

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A SEALED HOOK.

125

retinue of the Emperor in the imperial gardens to
witness a grand illumination.

" A number ot' long poles were set up, to which were
attaclied chains and pulleys; and in a back yard were
some hundreds of Christians of all ages and both sexes.
They were wrapped up to the middle in tlax dipped in
pitch. As the night came on, and before it was fully
dark, Nero called to his lictors, saying, ' It is time to
light the torches.' ' And,' said he to Servutus, the
chief lictor, ' if you regard your head, see to it that
we do not lack for light on this auspicious occasion.'
At this command some twenty-five or thirty Christians
were carried in on stretchers, and the chains were fas-
tened around under their arms. They were then
lifted by the chains and pulleys to the tops of the
pol(>s. As they were ascending the pitchy flax was
set on fire. The confusion of sounds that followed this
exceeded anything that ever I heard. Some of these
Christians were only children. Their cries for help to
the parents who themselves were among the sufferers,
were most heartrending. Some of the victims prayed
for theraselves,and for the Emperor, and for the deluded
throng. Others seemed to be forgt-tfu! of everything,
and died in silence ; while others still .sang .songs of
praise to God, who had counted them worthy to suffer
for him."

" How long did they suffer ? " inquired Ecclesia.

Scribonius answered, " From ten to twenty minutes
from the time the fire was lighted they were all
dead."

" What next was done ? " asked Truth.

" They were taken down, and others took their
place," he replied.

" How long did this thing go on ? " was asked.

Scribonius answered, " Until past midnight; then the
crowd dispersed and the Emperor retired."

" Did the spectators keep silence while the Christians
were dying ? " inquired Ecclesia.

I '.

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III

126

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

" By no means," replied Scribonius. " As soon as the
first lot of Christians were fastened in the chains, and
the flax set on tire, the Emperor ordered the music to
start. He commenced to play the violin as few can
play it, for he was an excellent musician. Then the
pimps and courtesans commenced the dance, and kept
it up for six or seven hours, changing sets every time
the lictors renewed the torches. One time when there
was a little lull in the proceedings, Nero started and
sang as follows :

"Higher, still higher, goes the smoke,

Brighter, still brighter, glows the flame,
We now bring down a heavy stroke

On all who bear the Christian name.
Still louder let the music blare.

And let the wine-cup freely flow,
And let the dancers all take care

And do their best to please Nei'o.

"To-night we'll make the name of Rome

A terror to the praying band,
And every house and every home

We'll search, and drive them from the land.
And when from them the city's freed.

Our temples we again will throng ;
Then I myself will take the lead

Among the crowd in mirth and song."

" He took the lead as a murderer ; he killed his
mother, he killed the Christians, then he killed him-
self."

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CHAPTER IX.

A CONQUERING RIDER.

ECCLESIA was <ifreatly moved by the recitals of
Scribonins ; and when they met again for con-
versation, she asked him if there was any prospect
that the present persecution is goins; to cease shortly,
" For," said she, " it seems to me that my heart will
break if these things continue."

Scribonius answered, " Nothing but the death or
the conversion of the Emperor will stop the persecu-
tion. We need not expect the sword of the persecutor
to remain long in its scabbard until we have a Chris-
tian on the imperial throne, surrounded by Christian
officers of state ; then, and not till then, can we look
for rest from the hand of the destroyer."

Mr. Deeming spoke to Ecclesia, and said, " Perhaps
we may now turn our attention again to the Patmos
revelation."

She commenced to read at where she had left off,
and read on till she came to the place where the Lamb
opened one of the seals of the book that he had taken
out of the hand of him that sat on the throne. One
of the living creatures said, as with a voice of thunder,
"Come and see." Then a rider was seen to come forth,
sitting on a white horse, and he had a bow, and a
crown was given unto him, and he went forth con»

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CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

quering and to conquer. She stopped reading, and
said, " I am anxious to know what this may represent.
Can you explain this, Mr. Deeming ? "

He answered her, and said, " I will try to give the
explanation to the best of my ability. What John
saw was a pictorial representation of what he describes
to us. To him it was an object-lesson, but to us it is
a word-picture. What he saw was not only a picture
in the ordinary sense, but it was also a symbol of some-
thing else. As a picture it simply represents a man
on a horse with a bow in his hand and a crown on his
head; but as a symbol it represents a higher and
grander objec. Whether John really saw this horse
and his rider, as if living and moving, or whether he
saw them in a picture in the opened book, does not
change the symbolical character of the representation.
In whatever way his mind received the impressions
that he so vividly describe§, the meaning is the same."

" What do you think is symbolized by the horse in
this picture ? " asked Eccelsia.

" The horse," replied Mr. Deeming, " is remarkaa..
for four things — swiftness, strength, energy, and obe-
dience to his rider. His usefulness makes him one of
man's greatest favorites all over the W'Orld— especially
is this the case with warlike people, and among those
who depend largely on the chase for the means of sup-
plying themselves with food. Here the horse is used
to symbolize something that is strong, and active, and
quick, and yet something that is in obedience to law.
We will see more of this presently when we come to
speak of the whole representation."

" What does the color of the horse mean ? " asked
Truth.

Mr. Deeming answered, "White is the symbol of
purity and innocence. It means freedom from moral
defilement. Hence, one of the old-time servants of
the Lord said, ' Wash me and I shall be whiter than

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A CONQUERING RIDER.

129

snow.' And under the old dispensation the Levites
were clothed in white linen, as an emblem of purity."

" What does the bow in the hand of the rider repre-
sent ? " inquired Ecclesia.

" The bow," said Mr. Deeming, " is an instrument of
offensive warfare ; and it is used either in war to send
arrows into the persons of enemies, or in the chase to
send arrows into the retreating or flying game."

" Well, what about the crown that was given to the
rider on the horse ? " Scribonius inquired.

" The crown is a symbol of conquest and of govern-
ment," said Mr. Deeming. "A conqueror is crowned,
as is the case at the Grecian and Roman games, as an
emblem of victory. The ruler wears a crown as an
emblem of power."

" Now," said Ecclesia, " tell us what is symbolized
by the horse and his rider all taken together. I am
waiting to hear what this may mean."

Mr. Deeming replied, " The horse and his rider go
out to conquer. They represent some mighty force
that is thrown into human society, and one that will
have to meet and conquer other forces that will oppose
it. I think it symbolizes the system of divine truth
embodied in the teaching of Christianity, together with
the divine influences accompanying that truth. The
truth is to mix and mingle with the religious thought
of the world, and in the end it is to overthrow and
trample down and root out of human society every
o..her religious system under the sun. The same fact
may be stated in another way. The white horse
means the pure teachings and hallowing influences of
the Gospel. And the rider with a bow and a crown
represents Christ, the King in the Gospel, going forth
to the conquest of the world, and hastening to the
time when he will reign King of nations as he now
does King of saints. We will now condense these
ideas, and say that the white horse and his rider
symbolizes in their entireness

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THE CHRISTIAN SYSTEM

and the spiritual forces that accompany it in the world.
And when we think of the condition of things at the
time that these revelations were given, we see the pro-
priety and the necessity of some such a manifestation
as was given in this grand symbol of the white horse
and his rider. The Church had already waded in
blood through two general persecutions, and now she
is suffering from a third that has already lasted longer
than either of the two that is past, and there seem to
be no symptoms of a cessation."

Ecclesia seemed to be very much interested in Mr.
Deeming's description of the persecutions of the
Church. They had all listened with the most rapt
attention to the explanations given by him, and they
were charmed with them.

But Faith seemed to be a little confused on one
point, and she ayked Mr. Deeming for information.
She wanted to know how it was that a crown was
given to the rider before the conflict was ended.

He answered, " The word has two meanings ; one
refers to triumph, and the other to dignity and power.
One is won by a conqueror and the other by a roler.
Now, the crown that was given t ) the rider on the
white horse was not the royal diadem or crown worn by
kings, but was the conqueror's crown. And although
the conflict still goes on, this rider might proporly
receive the crown of conquest, for he has gained some
great victories already. He has conquered death and
hell and the grave ; and, having done this, may he not
now wear a conqueror's crown, even though many foes
are yet to be subdued ?

" We will say, then, that the white horse and his
rider symbolizes the Christian system, which has been
devised by Divine Wisdom and given to the world as the

I i

A CONQUERING RIDER.

131

one grand agency by which the world is to be brought
to a knowledge of salvation,"

Ecclesia inquired, " Is the Christian system and the
Gospel one and the same ? If not, what is the difter-
ence between them ? "

He answered, " The Gospel is good news, and the
term is applied to that part of Christianity that con-
sists in telling the good news of salvation or in preach-
ing the Gospel. But the Christian system implies
more than simply preaching the Gospel ; it implies
the ordinances and sacraments that were instituted by
its founder, and the helpful, saving influences that
a "ytend the faithful preaching of the Gospel and sincere
attention to the word preached, and the intelligent
usinfj of the ordinances and services that have been
appointed. The whole is greater than any of its parts;
so the Christian system is greater than the telling of
good news."

Truth said, " Will you tell us the difference between
the Christian system, as you have just explained it,
and the Church that is symbolized by Ecclesia, our
mistress ? " •

Mr. Deeming answered, " The Church represented
by Ecclesia is the depositary of the system of religious
teaching, and the administrator of the divinely ap-
pointed religious ordinances embraced in Christianity.
The Church is the trustee or guardian of what has
been deposited and left with it. You will do well to
bear in mind these distinctions between the Church
and its work. There may come a time when she will
be hindered from doing her work ; but no power on
earth can take from her the sacred truths and the
blessed influences of Christianity. She may be pre-
vented from publishing the Gospel, and publicly
administering the rites of the Christian system ; she
may have to hold the truth in the face of many
difficulties, and defend it by the sacrifice of n)any

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CLOTHED WITH THE SUN,

precious lives. But while she is true to herself and to
lier Lord, she shall be preserved, for he has said that
the gates of hell shall not prevail against her."

These discussions became more and more interesting
to Ecclesia and her friends. They were becoming
more interested in the explanations given by Mr.
Deeming, and they began to see the beauty and
importance of symbols as they never had before.
And everv one felt that these conversations were lead-
ing them to higher and grander conceptions of the
Christian religion, and giving them clearer views of
the work that had been committed to the Church.
Ecclesia was cheered at the prospect of final conquest
by the rider on the white horse, for she knew that
conquest for him meant victory for her. She asked
them all to help her sing :

"Go forth, victorious Conqueror, go,
Till all Thy foes are beaten down,
And Thou alone shalt wear the crown
Of empire in this world below.

"Thy footsteps we will humbly trace,
And do what Thou wouldst have us do ;
Be active, faithful, pure and true.
Until we meet Thee face to face. "

Truth spoke to Mr. Deeming, and said, " There is
one thing I would Kk« to ask you, if you have no
objection."

"I am quite willing to answer any question that is
within my power to answer," said he.

" My question is this," said Truth, " Do two or more
different symbols ever apply to the same subject 'i "

Mr. Deeming replied, " Yes, frequently they do ; but
it is seldom that they apply to the same part of the
subject. For instance, we found in our former investi-
gation that the lion of the tribe of Judah, and the lamb
in the midst of the living creatures and the elders,
both symbolized the Lord and Saviour ; but the one

A CONQUERING RIDER.

183

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represented his conquering strength and the other his
atoning sacrifice. And if we look into the Scriptures,
we shall find that he is called a sun, a star, a rock, a
rose, a lily, a root, a plant, and other names. All of
these symbols are applied to him, but they refer to
different things in regard to him. So it often happens
that the same subject is represented by different
things that illustrate it, some in one way and some in
another."

" Another question, if you please," said Truth.
" Does the same symbol ever apply to two or more
different subjects, so that it might mean one thing
to-day and something else to-morrow?"

He answered, "The same symbol may apply to
different subjects of the same class, but not to different
classes of subjects. But this may be taken as a safe
rule in the explanation of symbols : They generally
mean the same thing whenever they are found in the
sacred writings. Where there are exceptions, the
nature of the case will make it clear that it is an
exception.* Symbols are pictures to represent ideas,
the same as words are intended to describe them.
Now, if words had no settled meaning, what would
language be worth ? So if there are to be no settled
principles of interpretation as applied to symbols, they
are more likely to confuse the mind than to illustrate
facts."

nil

ANOTHER HORSE AND RIDER.

At their next meetingr for conversation an<i mutual
improvement, Ecclesia commenced to read again from
the Patmos roll. She read to where John saw the
second seal of the book broken, and another page

* The overlooking or disregarding of this rule of interpreta-
ti«)ns is one reason why the commentators have got into such
confusion in their explaining the book of Revelation.

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CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

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ira.

opened. He heard one of the living creatures .say,
" Come and see." On lookinsf, he saw a red horse and
his rider ; to this rider it was fijiven to take peace from
the earth, so that they .should slay one another, and
to him was also given a great sword. She stopped
reading, and said to Mr. Deeming, " We will hear
your explanation of this red horse and his rider before
we proceed to read further."

"This," said, Mr. Deeming, "like the white horse
and rider, is a compound symbol, and we will explain
one thing at a time, first, and then put the different
parts together. The color of the horse was red ; that
means blood.shed, slaughter, and waste of life. In
this connection it seems to imply persecution of the
Christians as well as war in general. To the rider it
was given to take peace from the earth, meaning that
he shall cause disturbance, strife, turmoil, confusion,
hatred, war, plunder, oppression, and every other
thing that is at variance with peace and quietness.
And there was given him a great sword. The sword
is a weapon of either offensive or defensive warfare,
and as a symbol it seems to mean the power of judicial
vengeance or puni.shment ; and in the case before us it
seems like a terrible threat to the Church. We will
now put together these different parts, and consider
the horse and his rider as one complete whole.

" This horse goes out in pursuit of the first one, and
his rider goes out in opposition to the rider on the
white horse. Now, as this white horse and his rider
.symbolizes the Christian system, so this red horse and
his rider must symbolize some system that will be
opposed to Christianity. And that system was in the
w .d before John saw these visions, as Christianity
was in the world before he saw these symbols of it
and of its foes."

" What do you think it means ?" inquired Truth.

" I am sure that it must be something terrible," said

•^mmmk^

A CONQUERING RIDEK.

185

Love, " since it stands against the best and kindest
system that the world has ever seen or heard of."

" 4nd you mi<:,fht say that in opposing Christianity
it stands aojainst the truest teaching that the world has
ever heard," said Truth.

" And the time will come when the world will yield
to this teaching," put in Hope.

" Whatever it may be or vvhoever it may be, the
effort to ov^erthrow the rider on the white horse must
in the end prove fruitless," said Faith.

" I fear," said Ecclesia, " that it means long ages of
conflict and an untold amount of sutfering on the part
of my cherished and most beloved friends, before my
heart's desire shall be realized in the complete subju-
gation of the nations to the mild and gentle reign of
my adored Lord."

" The enemy that is set forth by the red horse and
his rider is one that has lived in the past," said Mr.
Deeming, " but he was symbolized by something else.
But now he is brought in contact with a sj'^stem repre-
sented by a man on horseback, and to contend with
that system he needs the fleetness of the same kind
of helper.

" I am inclined to think that the thing here meant
may be summed up in one word ; that word is im-
perialism. This word, understood in a despotic sense,
so completely harmonizes with what is said about the
red horse and his rider, that I think we need not look
any farther for an explanation of the symbol. This
rider was to take peace from the earth. To settle the
question. Who shall rule the rest ? has drenched the
earth in blood. It has thrown nation against nation ;
it has destroyed cities by scores and hundreds ; it
has depopulated large tracts] of country ; it has
blot' a out nations ; it has uprooted kingdoms, and
it has overthrown empires. What other system has
ever been such a universal enemy to peace ? In

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hi-

imperialism ambition has found .id for its most

extended operations, and it has found scope for its
largest desires of conquest, and it has found a ladder
with which to cHmb to the highest possible heights of
earthly power. In it the soldier has found the means
of gratifying the brutal instincts of war ; in it the
miser has found the means of getting his hoarded
heaps of unused and unneeded gold ; in it the human
animal has found the means of gratifying to satiety
the low passion and filthy longings of his beastly
nature. In fact, we can scarcely name a vice or a crime
possible to human nature that has not been encouraged
and strengthened where the will or the caprice of one
has become law to the many."

" You spoke awhile ago of another symbol that has
represented imperialism in the past," said Ecclesia ;
" what was it ? "

Mr. Deeming replied, " A dragon was sometimes used
to symbolize the same thing that the red horse and his
rider does here. The old prophets used to give it in
that way ;* but more of this further on."

AN APPEAL TO HISTORY.

We will now take Mr. Deeming's interpretation of
this symbol, and inquire whether the facts of history
will bear him out.

It must not be forgotten that imperialism as a
despotic system had existed since the founding of the
old Chaldean empire by the mighty hunter of Babylon,
about 2,300 years before Christ, and the kingdom of
Egypt seems to have been founded 400 years earlier.
From that time the spirit of imperialism was in the
world, and it made its presence felt among the nations.

* See Ezekiel xxix. 3. Here the dragon is personated by
Pharaoh, who shows the spirit of imperialism. See also Rev.
xii. 3, where the same spirit is seen.

A CONQUERING RIDER.

137

he
on,

of
er.

e
■ns.

The stream of despotism that took its rise in the ambi-
tion of Nimrod ran throuf^h all the old empires, the
Clialdean, the Assyrian, the Babylonian, the Medo-
Porsian, the Greek or Macedonian ; and at the time of
tliese visions, it was at the zenith of its power, and it
manifested itself in the proud emperors of Rome. And
in all these ages and in all the countries in which it
was found, or where it is found to-day, imperialism is
the foe of fjodliness, and it must be so as long as it
ignores the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of
man. I do not say that all rulers, whether they be
kings, or governors, or magistrates, are the foes of god-
liness. That would be a sad condition of things, indeed ;
but I say that the very spirit of imperialism is suffi-
cient to drive all feelings of piety and of human
equality from the heart in which it finds a resting-
place. How can a man whose head is dizzied by the
high position that has been gained, devoutly say,
" Thou art my Father, and I am thine, to be, or to do, or
to suffer whatever thy will may be ? " How can a
man inflated with the pride of empire say to the poor
man, " Thou art my brother, and I will help thee bear
thy burdens ? " As soon as these feelings would
spring up in the heart the spirit of imperialism would
die in that heart. The two dispositions could not live
toQ;ether, any more than a lamb and a dove could live in
safety with the wolf and the hawk.

This is a plant that can live and grow in any
climate and in any country where it is allowed to take
root. And everywhere it becomes the upas tree of
civil societv.

A wiser than Solomon has said, " A tree is known by
its fruits." I think we have a right to judge any
system of government, religion or philosophy by its
results, and decide its value by the kind of character
that it develops in those who are influenced by it.
What has been the character of the Pharaohs of Egypt,
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CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

the CsBsars of Rome, the Czars of Russia, the Sultans
of Turkey ? Besides these, the Nimrods, the Nebuchad-
nezzars, the Alexanders, the Louises and Napoleons,
and scores of others whom it would become tedious to
name. Let history answer. And we must not forget
one important fact ; that is this, the spirit of imperial-
ism is the same wherever it is found, whether it
reigns in the heart of an emperor ruling over nations
and kingdoms, or in the heart of some petty princeling
ruling over a few townships of territory and a few
thousands of subjects. The thing is the same in
modern times that it was in ancient times. But in our
times it is somewhat held in check by the growing
influence of the masses in national affairs.

This spirit is manifested in every form of despotism ;
and the contest to-day between the spirit of imperial-
ism and the spirit of democracy is shaking the thrones
of many lands, and that contest must go on until
every form of despotic rule shall be driven from human
society.

At the time that these revelations were given to
John on Patmos, the second general persecution of
the Christians was at its height. The third persecu-
tion began in 107, and continued under Trajan and
Adrian.

The fourth general persecution began about A.D. 163
under Marcus Aurelius, who proved himself to be a
second Nero, as an enemy to the cause of the rider on the
white horse. Under his reign, Justin Martyr, one of
the earliest writers of the Christian Church, was
beheaded for the Christian religion, A.D. 167. The
same year Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, who had been
a disciple of St. John, was burnt. The next year
Pius and Anicetus and Soter, three of the Bishops
in Rome, were put to death. The fifth persecution
began A.D. 202, under Severus, and was carried on
with great barbarity. The sixth persecution of Chris-

163
De a
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The
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p'ear

ops

ion
on

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A CONQUEIUNG RIDER.

139

tians began A.D. 226, under Alexander Severus. The
seventh persecution began A.D. 250, under Decius,
and was continued under Galius and Valerian. The
seventh was followed by the eighth, A.D. 257, unde;:
Valerian and Gallienus. The ninth persecution began
A.D. 273, under Aurelian. The tenth and last of the
persecutions under the pagan emperors, began A.D.
284, under Diocletian. This was one of the most ter-
rible periods that the Church ever passed through.
This man seemed to be furious toward all who bore
the Christian name. He issued an edict against them
in A.D. 303, more cruel than anything that had been
since the time of Nero. He ordered to pull down their
churches, to burn all their books and writings, to
deprive them of their civil rights and privileges, and
to make them incapable of any honor or civil promo-
tion. In A.D. 304 another edict was published ; by it
the magistrates were ordered to force all Christians,
without distinction of rank or sex, to sacrifice to the
gods of Rome, and all sorts of tortures were authorized
to drive them into this act of idolatry.

According to this edict the Emperor demolished
churches, and filled the prisons with bishops, presbyters
and their flocks. And it is said that he put his own
wife and mother to death for being Christians. This
persecution lasted till A.D. 311. In 312, Constantino
cttme to the imperial throne. He shortly after became
a professor of the Christian faith, and put an end to the
persecutions by the Pagans. The Church has very
cogent reasons to remember this red horse and his rider.
We now turn again to Ecclesia and her friends.*

* The number of Christians who were made martyrs under the
pagan emperors must remain an unknown quantity till the records
of eternity shall make it known. But it must run high into the
millions.

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CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

SAD MEMORIES.

When Ecclesia and her friends came together again,
it was noticed that there was a careworn look upon
her face, and a sort of hinguid expression of her eye.
Her steps seemed feeble, and her deportment in gen-
eral was that of one who was tired and exhausted.
Her voice, when she spoke, was weak and trembling,
and traces of recent tears were discernible on her
cheeks. She seemed downcast and sad, and her
thoughts seemed to be out of harmony with her present
surroundings.

Love was the first to notice th^ troubled aspect of
her mistress. Placing her hand softly upon Ecclesia's
shoulder, and looking her lovingly in the eye, she said,
with great tenderness*, " My dear mistress, what is it
that is troubling you ? We can all see that some
heavy burden is resting upon your shoulders ; some
weight of woe is breaking your tender heart. What
is it ? Can we help you in any way ? "

" My heart is almost broken to-day, because of what
I have seen and heard," she answered. " That terrible
enemy, shown by the red horse and his rider, has
almost torn my heart asunder by his merciless and
cruel treatment of my people. Every blow that he
inflicts on them has a rebound that strikes upon my
very soul. Every groan and sigh that he extorts from
my beloved ones seems to echo in tones of thunder and
reverberate through all the avenues of my very being.
Oh, why does he hate me and mine with such an un-
dying hatred? Oh, why does he oppose the cause of
my Lord and King with such bitter and unmitigated
fury ? These are questions that I cannot understand,
much less answer."

" There is no need for you to answer these questions,"
said Truth ; " but the time will come when history

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A OONQUERINfJ RIDER.

will answer them. In the meantime, you must walk
by faith and not by sight, nor by sense."

Here Mr. Braveheart spoke and said, " The enemies
who threaten you are only men, and they are of a very
low type of manhood. What kind of man must he be
who will do as Nero did when he murdered his own
mother Agrippina and his own wife Octavia ? Or
Dic'iletian, who killed his m.other and his wife for
being Christians ? Such men are mean, cowardly crea-
tures, whether their homes are in the wayside hut or
in i^e imperial palace ; or whether they be clad in rags
or in imperial purple. Such men are a disgrace to
humanity wherever they are found."

" Nevertheless," said Ecclesia, " they are able to do
much harm to me and mine, and [ dread them worse
than I would the wild beasts that roam the forest."

" These men," said Mr. Deeming, " are very properly
symbolized by ferocious wild beasts."

Hope and Faith now came forward, and addressed
a few consoling words to Ecclesia, and then they

sang:

" We will not cease to journey on
Towards the land we have in view,
Though foes their warlike garbs may don,
And friends turn back and prove untrue.

' ' For He has told us not to fear,
But travel on with willing speed,
And we shall find Him always near
To help in every time of need."

" At our next meeting another wonder will be found,"
said Ecclesia, as they retired.

* m
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CHAPTER X.

THE DARK HORSEMAN.

WHEN Ecclesia and her friends came together
again, .she seemed more cheerful than she had
been at their last meeting. Her eyes were free from
all appearances of tears, and her face wore a sunny
smile, that seemed to be the index of a happy frame
of mind. Her voice, when she spoke, was firm, and
clear, and melodious, and her whole manner was that
of a person who is at peace with seu and with God,
and who would gladly be so with all the world if the
world was in harmony with what is right, and pure,
and good.

Mr. Deeming asked Ecclesia to read the next pas-
sage in the roll. She complied, and read of a black
horse that came forth when the third seal was opened,
and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his
hand. And a voice was heard from the midst of the
four living creatures, saying,. " A measure of wheat for
a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny."*

She paused, and looked at Mr. Deeming for a mo-
ment, and then said, " This roll seems full of mysteries,
and if this contains a sketch of my future experiences,

* See Revelation, vi. 5, 6.

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it is well that we have you to give us some insight
into the meaning of those things that are so hard to
understand. The rider on the red horse made a very
powerful impression on me when 1 cfuiie to under-
stand that it meant an enemy to mjself and to
the cause of my beloved Lord. I do hope this new
apparition does not forbode trouble, like the last

one

" My dear lady," replied Mr. Deeming, " I cannot
deceive you. This is, on the whole, a more dangerous
enemy than the one you just now spoke of. He is
less frightful in his aspect, but he is no less to be
dreaded on that account. He is an enemy that comes
nearer home ; he will arise from within your own
household, and the time may come when, like the
man in olden times, you will say, ' It was not an
enemy that reproached me, then could I have borne
it ; neither wa,s it he that hated me that did magnify
himself against me, then would I have hid myself
from him ; but it was thou, a man mine equal, my
guide and mine acquaintance. We took sweet coun-
sel together and walked to the house of God in com-
pany.' (Psa. Iv. 12.) And again, ' Mine own familiar
friend in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread,
hath lifted up his heel against me.' " (Psa. xl. 9.)

" That is dreadful to think of," said Ecclesia.

" Yes," said Mr. Deeming ; " but when it comes it will
be more dreadful to endure, and come it surely will,
for it is symbolized in this black horse and his rider."

" What do you understand this symbol to repre-
sent ? " inquired Truth.

■""Twenty-one events are shown in the three times seven —
seven seals, seven trumpets, and seven vials. These will take
place in regular chronological order. The first was the white
horse and his rider ; the other six seals and the tirst four trum-
pets mean disaster to the Church ; the last three trumpets and
the seven vials mean something to the advantage of the Church
in an increasing ratio to the end.

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" Whatever it is, it will sometime be overcome," said
Hope.

" That is so," said Faith.

Here Mr. Braveheart spoke, and said, " If this horse
and his rider represent some human foeman, I am not
afraid to meet him; but if it be some invisible agency
or some unrighteous system, courage and skill in com-
bat might not avail much ; but, on any supposition,
we need not fear but that he can l>e successfully
withstood."

"It very much depends on what you would call
success," said Mr. Deeming. "That ho will be finally
conquered is a moral certainty, but that he will be
readily and easily destroyed is by no means a hopeful
case."

" Is it not a shame," said Love, " that our mistress
must be pestered with such enemies, when she is so
kind and good to every one who comes within her
reach ? "

" Kindness and goodness in a world like this often
fail to secure civil treatment," said Truth.

Mr. Deeming said, " We now turn our attention to
this horf-e and rider. This, like the other two, is a
compound symbol. We have the horse, his color, the
rider with his balances or scales, and the proclamation.
Then, what it means as a whole will demand our
study.

" I need not tell you the horse is a symbol of speed,
strength and obedience. That was explained before.

"The color, black, means scarcity, sufiering, despair,
disease arising from famine, and death. It points to
a time of great w^ant, when food will be exceedingly
hard to obtain.

" The man with the balance in his hand s^nnbolizes
legal precision, indicating a time of scarcity, when the
seller is careful not to give too much, and the buyer is
particular not to take too little. The one .seems to

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145

fear that the measure is too lari^ce, and the other seeins
to think that it may be too small, so the article is sold
by weijiht as well as by measure, a double process not
thought necessary when the thing is plentiful. When
a thing is very scarce and the price exceedingly high,
men are more particular about quantity than the}^ are
about quality ; but when a thing is plentiful and cheap,
more attention is given to qtiality than to quantity.
Tills seems to be one of the anomalies of traffic, and it
holds cfood in the case before us."

'• Well, what about the proclamation that was
made ? " inquired Ecclesia.

" The proclamation," said Mr. Deeming, " is of an
encourafjinjT character rather than the reverse. Comina:
as it did, from the midst of the living creatures, shows
it comes as a voice of mercy from the throne of him
who sat in the midst of the circle of elders. 'A
measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of
barley for a penny,' means great scarcity, but not
absolute starvation to those who are willing to work
for their board.

"The measure spoken of here was about one quart,
and it was the common allowance of food for a hired
servant. The penny was worth about twelve and a
half cents, and was the price of a day's work,* as we
may learn from the Lord himself in his parable of the
man who hired laborers in his vineyard. The men are
told where they can get a day's food for a day's work,
but they could have nothing for clothing nor to carry
to their families."

"That would surely be a sad condition of things.
Who could bear up for any length of time under such
trials as that would be ?" said Ecclesia, with much
feeling.

Mr. Deeming said, " There will come a time when
the great majority of men will have to endure hard-

* See Matt. xx. 2.

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ships in spiritual things fully as bad as this is repre-
sented to be in natural thini^s.

" Three measures of barley for a penny seems to
indicate that food for animals was cheaper and more
plentiful than food for men ; as barley was used
mostly for feeding cattle and other stock. Perhaps
this may indicate that it is always easier to get sup-
plies for the physical part of human nature than
for the spiritual part."

" Now, tell us what the whole may mean," said
Ecclesia.

" Before doing so," said Mr. Deeming, " I wish to
say a little more as to the work of this enemy. I have
already intimated this symbol portends a time of
great scarcity. But the kind of scarcity set forth is
described by one of the old prophets a great deal
better than I could do it, in the following striking
words: 'Behold the days come, saith the Lord God,
that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of
bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words
of the Lord : and they shall wander from sea to sea,
and from the north even to the east, they shall run
to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall
not find it.' * That is the kind of famine presaged in
the case of the black horse and his rider."

" Well, what will be the cause and the occasion of
that famine ? " inquired Truth.

" I am not quite done with the proclamation yet,"
said Mr. Deeming. " There is another thing brought
out in the closing sentence, ' and the oil and the wine
hurt thou not.'

" The oil and the wine (not intoxicating) are symbols
of divine blessings. And here they seem to indicate
that God will not withhold the heavenly influences
that he has promised to his people who serve him and
trust him. So that no matter what other things may

■* Amos viii. 11, 12.

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THE DARK HORSEMAN.

147

fail, his help shall not fail. Men may change and
systems may change, hut God changes not.' And this
intimation is very properly given in connection with
the black horse and his rider. The rider on the red
horse, with his great sword, designated an enemy to
the Church ; but it was one who had never been a
friend, so that in his case there 'was no treacherous
desertion of former associations.

" This horse and his rider, on the contrary, designates
a professed friend acting the part not only of an
enemy, but of a deceiver also. The pledge that the
oil and wine should be protected is a promise that,
however much earthly helps may fail, the divine
assistance shall never be withheld when that help is
sought for."*

AN ENEMY NAMED.

" Are you ready now to tell us what this symbol
means ? " asked Ecclesia. " We are all very much
interested in this matter, and are getting almost im-
patient to hear the conclusion of it."

" Well," said Mr. Deeming, " you do not well to be
impatient, for bad tidings always come too soon, and
this symbol is like a piece of bad tidings. You have
here the beginning; but long years of anxious waiting
and weary watching will be yours before the conclu-
sion will be reached. But it will come in due time,
* For he must reign until all his enemies shall be sub-
dued and all things be put under him.

" But I will not keep you longer in suspense ; I will
tell you whence this enemy comes, and who he is.

* This rider conies on the scene at a time when men's minds
were in a condition to be affected by the question of supply in
an unusual way. Tlie famines that had been endured in the
times of Commodus and the two Severuses, would be subjects of
but recent date, when this spiritual famine was presaged by this
symbol. It is said 2,000 died of famine in one day in Rome.

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He shall arise fmiii amonjj your friends; from among
those who are trusted and placed in responsible posi-
tions ; in a word, from among the ministers of the
Church. I see you startle, and turn pale, and well
you may; for this enemy shall be more terrible in his
work than imperialism, with its great persecuting
sword, because it will be an enemy inside the camp,
These are always more dangerous than outside foes."
Ecclesia became so much affected that she wept, and
her attendants gathered around her, to try to speak
words of comfort to her ; but she was so absorbed in
thought and feeling, that she seemed lost to everything
but the one giant fact that stood out like an unnamed
monster before her, namely : she had become aware
that an enemy was arisins: from within the circle of
her friends. She began to sing in a soft, minor tone,
and in a low, sweet voice :

" And is it true that I must meet
Such enemies on ev^ery hand,
Both on the sea and on the land,
Where'er I turn my weary feet"?

" Can they find nothing else to do .
Than torture me for doing right,
While they are using all their might
To make my friends, to'me, untrue ?

" O that I had an eagle's wings,
That I might rise and soar away
To that bright land of cloudless day
Where joy comes from unpoisoned springs."

When she ceased, she turned to Mr. Deeming, and
said, " I am ready to hear the worst of it. Tell us
who or what this black horse and rider means."

" As in the other cases, it means a system rather
than any one person or organization. For want of a
more specific term we will style the enemy represented
here Ecclesiasticism. This name is siven here more

THE DARK HORSEMAN.

140

with a reference to the future than the present, for the
thhig here set forth is not a stationary thing by any
means, any more than a man on horseback may be
supposed to be stationary. The meaning is an Eccle-
siasticism developing into a spiritual tyranny, that
will become an established 'nstitution, that after ages
will call priestciaft and prelacJ^ The Lord before he
left his disciples, told them that they were all brethren.
And again, ' let him that would be chief among you be
your servant.' But this system will place a social
barrier between the clergy and the laity in the Church,
and also it will divide the ministers into different
classes, known as superior a id inferior clergy."

" Where does this thing originate, and when did it
tirst manifest itself ? " inquired Truth.

" It originates in the inordinate ambitions of the
human heart, and it tirst showed itself in the Chii.stian
Church when an elderly woman came to the Lord and
wanted to secure the best positions for her two sons ;
the other disciples became displeased, and the Master
gave them the following counsel, ' Ye know that the
rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them ; and their
great ones exercise authority over them. Not so shall
it be among you : but whosoever would become great
among you shall be your minister, and whosoever would
be first among j-ou shall be your servant.' That is the
rule laid down by the Master for the guidance of his
servants in all the years to come."

" Yes,' said Ecclesia, " I remember distinctly the time
when these words were spoken by him. It was the
mother of James and John who made a reque^it that
her two sons might sit, one on the right and the oiVxOV
on the left of the Master in his kingdom. And among
the twelve who were there that dav, James died first
and John the last."

" That is correct," said Mr. Deeming. " James was
killed by King Herod, A.D. 44, and after a long and

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useful and eventful life, John died at Ephesus A.D.
100. If the sons of Zebedee failed to realize the
maternal desire while they lived, in their deaths they
touched the two extremes of apostolic obituaries; and
there is no doubt but they are at home with their
Lord and Master, where ambition's fires kindle no spirit
of rivalry among equals."

" In what way will this system that you have named
Ecclesiasticism affect the Church adversely, either now
or hereafter ?" asked Truth.

Mr. Deeming answered, " By causing her ministers
to become so much secularized in their views and feel-
ings that they will care more for wealth and position
than they will about personal piety or public useful-
ness."

Ecclesia spoke with great pathos, saying, "Do you
mean to tell me that a class of men who have given so
many martyrs to the flames, and to the rack, and to
the wild beasts, will become so worldly and so wicked
as to neglect their work to the injury of the Church ? "

" If this sj'mbol means anything, it means that," said
Mr. Deeminjj:. "And there are other reasons for this
belief. The apostle to the Gentiles saw this enemy
coming in his daj^ ; he said that it was then held in
check by some power that he did not name. But there
is not much room to doubt that power is pagan i ipe-
rialism as it now exists in the Roman empire. When
that is changed or taken away, then this enemy will
be revealed as a mystery of iniquity." *

" How will these men be led into this departure
from the true way ; will it be through fear of persecu-
tion or for personal aggrandisement ? " asked Truth.

Mr. Deeming answered, "Both of these considerations
seem to enter into the reasons of this apostasy. The
change comes on so gradually', that only the most

* See 2 Thess. ii. ; 2 Tim. iv.

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151

observing- will notice it much at first. There will be
at first an effort to make the officers of the Church corre-
spond, as far as may be, with the civil officers of the
State. This is done for two reasons : first, it is thouofht
that the Pagans wmII be pleased by this course, and will
be flattered into good-nature by the Church imitating
them as far as she can. In this, however, it seems they
are mistaken.

" The other reason is, the power and influence that
it gives to those who are placed in these higher posi-
tions."

" If your explanations are anything near correct,"
said Truth, " our mistress has more to dread from this
enemy than from the last."

Hope said, " I could almost ,wish that our friend
is mistaken, but it looks so plausible that I can see no
grounds to expect anything very much differing from
what he has said."

" There is a hand behind all these threatened disasters
that will make all of them and all other things work
for the good of those who love him," said Faith.

" How sad it is," said Love, " that people can be led
off in search of something that cannot be found. To
think of a man who stood as the ambassador of the
great King being so foolish as to run out after the
short-lived pleasures of the world ; it is sad, indeed."

Mr. Deeming went on to say, " The time will come
when this enemy will have grown to such giant-like
proportions that he will stand like a menacing monster
in the pathway of the Church, neutralizing her teach-
ing, paralyzing her efforts, and corrupting her morals,
and vitiating her practices in the affairs of every-day
life. Then, but not till then, will the full force and
import of the symbol of the black horse and his rider
be fully realized."

" If this be true," said Ecclesia, " troublesome times
and dark davs are before me ; but I shall not fear nor

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be discouraged, for iie told nie before he left me that
I would be hated by enemies and deserted by friends,
and this will only be the fulfilment of his words. And
he told me not to be alarmed at these things, for he
would take care of me while I remained true to my-
self and to him."

" You cannot be false to him unless you become
untrue to yourself," replied Truth, " for your happiness
and tlie best interests of his cause are so connected that
they will stand or fall together; so that while you are
true to him, your safety and comfort will be special
objects of his care."

WHAT SAYS HISTORY ?

We will again appeal to history, and see how it will
harmonize with Mr. Deeming's explanation. As has
been said already, prophecy, wdiether it be expressed
in words or couched in symbols, is simply history
written before the events transpire. This being the
case, it is clear that history is the best commentary on
fulfilled prophec3^ Now, what does history say about
this subject of clerical defection and ecclesiastical
tyranny ?

Robertson, of Kilmaurs, says, " In the writings of the
early Fathers, that portion of the Church which was
under the inspection of one bishop is often called a
parish, but never a diocese. A bishop was chosen by
the universal suffrage of his people ; that these were
all personally known to him ; that the poor among
them were the objects of his immediate and personal
attention ; that when the bishop dispensed the Lord's
Supper all the people under his charge were present,
and could all see and hear when he preached ; that
when censure was inflicted on an offending brother, or
when the penitent sinner was restored to brotherly
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153

present. It continued to be the practice of some
bishops so far down as the age of Cyprian (who him-
self practised it), to do nothing and permit nothing to
be done by the clergy in the affairs of the Church
without first asking and obtaining the consent of the
people.* A worshipping assembly of Christians,
though small and situated in a small village, had its
bishop. The Christian bishop was the pastor of one
church (in some cases not amounting to more than
two hundred souls), having only one place of worship."

Dionysius, who was Bishop of Alexandria in the
third century, describes distinct congregations, in
remote parts of the city, as still under his charge.
And the number of Christians increasing, and their
zeal docliniiig, those of them who lived in remoter dis-
tricts of a congregation began to desire a place for
public worship nearer home. In order to avoid the
charge of schism, they sought and obtained permission
of their bishop to erect a chapel, which was to con-
tinue under his jurisdiction, and in which a presbyter
of his appointment was to officiate. Thus they volun-
tarily relinquished the choice of their own teacher,
and the right of choosing the bishop. The Pope sub-
sequently claimed and exercised the right of appoint-
ment to all vacancies in the bishoprics.

Here, in the simple circumstance of a congregation
consenting to accept a pastor not of their own choosing,
we tind the rise of that polluted stream of clerical
domination and papal tyranny, whose poisoned waters,
like a sweeping flood, have rolled down through the
centuries, undermining the thrones of kings and
engulfing empires as in a whirlpool of destruction.

* Cyprian was Bishop of Carthage —one of the principal
fathers of the Church. He was born in the beginning of the
third century at Carthage, and was beheaded there September
14th, A.D. 25«, under Valerian.

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How true it is that great thinpfs sometimes spring out
of what looks like a mere trifle. Someone has said
on this subject :

' ' A pebble in the streamlet scant

Has turned the course of a mighty river ;
A dew-drop on the baby plant
Has warped the giant oak forever."

Time and space will not permit the following of this
horse and rider through the period that intervened
between the twilight of this dark system and its full
culmination in the midnight of the world. All that
can be done here is to touch on a few points that will
illustrate its progress through the ages.

In Dowling's " History of Romanism " we find the
following trenchant statements :

" In the sixth century, the public teachers seemed to
aim at nothing else than to sink the multitude into
the most opprobrious ignorance and superstition ; to
efface from their minds all sense of the beauty and
excellence of genuine piety; and to substitute in the
place of religious principles a blind veneration for the
clergy and a stupid zeal for a senseless round of ridicu-
lous rites and ceremonies. This, perhaps, will appear
less surprising when we consider that the blind led the
blind ; for the public ministers and teachers of religion
were, for the most part, grossly ignorant, nay, almost
as much so as the multitude whom they were appointed
to instruct."

We see from the above extracts how the ministry
of the Church had changed very much in their
treatment of the laity since the times of Cyprian.
But having ignored the teachings of the Lord, who
said, " He that would be great among you, let him be
your servant," they soon became, as a class, disposed
to lord it over God's heritage, and came to believe that
the Church belonged to them.

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THE DARK HORSEMAN.

165

The next step in the development of this system is
found in the fact that these men who had brought the
people under their authority were themselves subju-
gated to one of their own class, in the person of the
Pope of Rome, who claimed superiority over all the
clergy as well as the laity of the Church. And more
than this, the Pope claimed, and still claims, to be
infallible. Bellarmine, an Italian Jesuit and writer of
note, says on this subject, " If the Pope should err by
enjoining vices or prohibiting virtues, the Church,
unless she would sin against conscience, would be
bound to believe vicea to be good and virtues to be
evils."

Another Roman Catholic writer says, " We can be-
lieve nothing, if we do not believe with a divine faith
that the Pope is the successor of Peter and infallible."
(Down, " History of Rome," p. 153, in note.)

We have in these extracts a view of the Church
under three aspects. There is Christian equality, cleri-
cal superiority, and papal supremacy. Starting with
the pure doctrines and simple precepts and practices
of early Christianity, and gradually deviating from
the apostolic methods and spirit, the so-called Church
reaches a condition in which she has but little Chris-
tianity left beside the name.

The system symbolized by the black horse and his
rider is no mere myth, as the blood of millions of
God's slaughtered children will testify when the great
reckoning time shall come.

When Ecclesia and her faithful friends came to-
gether again, a change was noticeable in her appear-
ance. There was the same look of quiet resignation,
the same benign smile upon her face, the same sweet
music in her voice, and the same kindly manner
towards her friends as before, but there seemed to be
an influence in her very presence that all could feel,
and there was a brightness that shone in her face, and

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an expression in her eye that was new to her be-
holders. They all noticed it, and they that stood
nearest to her claimed, afterwards, that they were
fully persuaded that some invisible presence was
standincr beside her at the time.

Love seemed to be affected more than the others.
She clasped her arm around Ecclesia's waist and said,
" Dear mistress, I think that I could die for you, I love
you 30."

Ecclesia turned to her enthusiastic friend, and said,
" My dear, many have died, and many more, I greatly
fear, will have to die before my Lord shall have ' the
heathen for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of
the earth for his possession.' " Then turning to the
rest, she said, " What shall we sing, for I feel like
singing ? "

Hope led in the following song of consecration and
confidence :

"Our lives, our all, to Him we give,
No more our own but His to bo ;
'Jo love and honor while we live,
And, dying, rise His face to see.

" This world is cold and dark and sad,
But He can cheer us on our way ;
His presence always makes us glad
In darkest night and roughest day.

" Then why should we give place to fear,
Or dread the foes that may arise?
We know our Friend is ever near,
To guard and guide us to the skies."

CHAPTER XL

THE PALE HORSE.

AM waiting with a good deal of expectancy for
the next scene in the descriptions of the Patmos
roll," exclaimed Hope, when again Ecclesia was about
to read.

" Have patience, sister, as well as expectancy," ad-
vised Faith.

Mr. Deeming said to Ecclesia, '* You may read the
next passage whenever you are ready to do so, and I
will try to explain it, if I can."

She commenced, and read, "And when he had opened
the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living
creature say. Come and see. And I looked, and be-
hold a pale horse, and his name that sat on him was
Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was
given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to
kill with the sword, and with famine, and with death
(or pestilence), and with the beasts of the earth."

Turning to Mr. Deeming, she said, " Now we will
wait for your explanation of this horse and rider,
before reading any more."

"That is well," he answered. "We will take all
the time needed. There is so much of the future fore-
shadowed by these four horsemen, that we cannot be
too careful in seeking to know what is meant by each
and all of them. This horse is really another enemy;

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though, from his having some white in his color, many
will, at first, take him for a friend ; thinking that he
must be related to the white horse which carries his
rider in his career of conquest."*

" What do you make of this horse and rider ? "
queried Truth.

" We will do with thc^n as we did with the rest ;
that is, we will consider them as a compound symbol.
The horse, as I have said before, means strength,
speed and obedience. The color of this horse is the
most difficult part of the symbol, because he difi'ers so
from the others. They were of one shade, and each
one had his own color. But this fellow is a mix-
ture, and he has as many colors as the other three.
This means that his work will be various, and he is
going to mix himself up with the work of each of the
others. He will profess to be a friend to the white
horse and rider. This is shown by the white that
enters into his color. He will at the same time assist
the red horse and his rider in providing the subjects for
destruction by the gicat sword of persecution. He
will help the black horse and his rider by professing
to feed the people with w^holesome food, while he
will be filling them with putrid and unwholesome diet,
producing a spiritual famine among the flock of Christ.
Perhaps we may call him a roan horse, instead of a
pale one. This color is made up of gray with a
sprinkling of red ; and gray is made of a mixture of
black and white. This color is darker than white and
not so dark as red or black, hence he is called pale.
Some say that he should be called a green horse ; but

*When this horse and rider came forth, all parties were
deceived. The Christians thought that they had a friend and
ally in t^e thing symbolized by them, and the Pagans feared that
they haa ^n it an enemy, and an avenger of the wrongs done to
Christians by the ten persecutions already past. The fifth and
sixth vials respectively show the feelings of both.

THE PALE HORSE.

159

1 think that from the kind of work that he will do,
no color can be more suitable for him than roan."

" What 1 understand you to say," Ecclesia said, " is
that this enemy will use the same weapons as the
others, and will join with them in opposing the rider
on the white horse, so that in the contest there will be
three against one and one against three."

" That is the true state of the case," he replied, *' and
he will use other weapons as well ; for he shall kill
with the sword, and with famine, and with death (or
pestilence), and by the wild beasts of the earth. We
see from all this what a dangerous enemy this one is
to be."

Truth inquired, " How will he kill by the sword,
when it is in the hand of the rider on the red horse ?
and how can he kill with famine, when that is the
work of the rider on the black horse ? "

Mr Deeming answered, " Your questions are very
natuiai and very proper ; but we will inquire a little
further into the character and work of this rider
before answering them, because we shall then have
more light on the subject."

" What do you think of his name ? " inquired Faith.

Mr. Deeming answered, " It says his name was
Death. Death is the absence of life, and there are as
many kinds of death as there are of life. But the
kinds of life affected by this rider I apprehend to be,
tirst, natural life ; second, religious life, derived from
communion with God ; third, eternal life, that is
given to those who are the children of God. Now,
this enemy will kill the body, starve the soul into
spiritual death, and consign both soul and body to
eternal death. Well may his name be called Death."

" It is said in the words of John that Hell, or Hades,
followed with him. What does that mean?" asked
Truth.

" Hell, or Hades, is the place of the dead, in its literal

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meaning. This may mean either the grave or the
place of departed spirits. I think that here it means
a place of graves, and the idea presented seems to be
this : Wherever this enemy goes he is a grave-digger.
He is a maker of graveyards, wherein lie buried the
dead bodies of civil rights, of religious privileges, of
freedom of thought, of liberty of conscience, of the
right to worship God as judgment dictates, and the
right to choose his associates in church-fellowship, and
the right to control his own affiiirs, and the right to
enjoy the entire and fullest confidence of his own
wife, and to demand what God has given to every
husband, unbroken fidelity to the marriage vow. And
besides all these, his graves will contain the dead
bodies of millions of martyrs of his killing."

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STATE-CHURCHLSM.

" That is a dreadful catalogue," said Ecclesia ; " and
I am waiting to hear what title this enemy will be
known by in coming years. He must have some other
designation than that given him by John."

Mr. Deeming replied, " As has been said before,
every one of these horses and riders symbolizes a
system. The others we have called Christianity,
Imperialism and Ecclesiasticism. This one before
us now we will call State-Churchism, because it is
an institution formed by uniting imperialism and
ecclesiasticism, which union results in a compound
that differs in some respects from both of its com-
ponent parts ; but at the same time, it has in itself
some of the elements of its two constituents. Like
imperialism, it claims the right to control civil society,
and like ecclesiasticism it wears the garb of religion
and claims the exclusive right to teach the people
what to think and what to do. Thus an attempt is
made to unite Christ and Csesar in a partnership foi

THE PALE HORSE.

161

the management of things secular as well as sacred.
Ctesar gets into the Church and controls wliat belongs
to Christ, and priests and bishops and other clerics get
into the councils of state. The first effects of this will
be that the State will control the Church ; but in
course of time the Church, so-called, will throttle the
State and force it to obey its dictum."

" When will this enemy make his appearance ?" in-
quired Ecclesia, with much earnestness.

" No point of time has been spoken of so far as I
know,* but it cannot now be very far in the future,
judging from the signs of the. times; and when it does
come, and when this rider begins his work, it will be a
sad day for yourself and your friends everywhere. It
will be the beginning of a long and deadly strife be-
tween the true and the false, between honesty and
dishonesty, between the true Church and a counterfeit
one — in a word, between Christ and Anti-christ. And
in this struggle many shall be slain by the sword and
bv famine and by pestilence and bv the wild beasts of
the earth."

" Now we are ready to answer your questions,"
said Mr. Deeming, as he turned to Truth.

" You wanted to know how State-Churchism could
kill with the sword, inasmuch as that was the work
of the red horse and his rider. In answer to that, I
may say what a person causes to be done is said to be
(hme by him.

" Now this enemy, in his relation to the Church,
will tell people what they must believe, and if any
refuse to obey his orders, either as to faith or practice,
he will hand them over to the secular arm to be put to
death by the great sword of the State.* In this way

* This was commenced to be realized about A.D. 313, when
the Emperor Constantine carried imperialism into the Roman
Catholic Church.

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he makes himself the destroyer of God's children by
killing with the sword."

" Well, how can he be said to kill with famine, since
that is the peculiar work of the black horse and his
rider ? " asked Truth.

Mr. Deemino; replied, " In his twofold character, as
representing in himself both the Church and the State,
he mixes so much that is secular and worldly with the
religious doctrines that he allows the clerics to teach
the people, that they starve for want of wholesome
food for their minds and hearts. And worse still, tie
gives them poisoned food got from the larders of
paganism, until the people in their longings for some-
thing better turn away in disappointment, and perish
for lack of knowledge. They asked for bread, but
they were given a stone. They asked for an egg, and
got a scorpion. They asked for a tish, and he gave
them a serpent. They inquired for the light, and he
gave them the dungeon. They wanted liberty, and he
handed them to the tormentors."

" How did he kill with pestilence and with the wild
beasts of the earth ? " inquired Truth.

Mr. Deeming replied, " Before answering the ques-
tions it will be necessary to explain more symbols.
In prophetic symbols, earth means civil society under
secular rulers, without any reference to religious con-
ditions ; a wild beast means some persecuting power ;
the air means public opinion ; a blowing wind, which
is simply air in motion, means public opinion in a state
of agitation, or changing.

" This rider kills with pestilence, which frequently
accompanies famine, and it generally arises from

'■"' The Church always claimed that she did not kill heretics,
but at the same time she hunted them as the blood-hound hunts
the deer, and when sha found them handed them over to the
tender mercies of heartless persecutors, who did what she
ordered.

MMKMMI

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acter, as
le State,
vith the
'O teach
oiesome
still, he
Jers of

THE PALE HORSE.

163

corrupted food and polluted atmosphere. It is a well-
known fact that starving men don't often stop to
think what they are eating ; anything that promises
to appease their hunger and satisfy the cravings of
their famishing natures is taken without asking is it
wholesome or not. In this way much of the elements
of disease is taken into the system, and pestilence and
contagion is the result. And once this is started the air
is soon tilled with the germs of disease, and the wind
spreads these into many homes and thousands are
swept away, as has been the case recently in Rome and
other countries. When pul)lic opinion becomes cor-
rupted and filled with dangerous and deadly errors, it
is aptly illustrated by a pestilence-producing atmos-
phere, so that this rider having to do with the promo-
tion of public opinion, if he tills it with the germs of
spiritual disease and death, may very properly be said
to kill with pestilence."

During these explanations Ecclesia listened very
intently. After a few moments of thought she com-
menced to sing :

' ' Dark days are still in store for me,
Steep mountains I have yet to climb,
And nothing will restore to me
The unmixed joys of olden time.

" 'Tis not so bad as that «aid Faith,
For good will out of evil come ;
For listen what the Master saith,

" I'll lead, and save, and bring thee home."

Truth said to Mr. Deeming, " What is the meaning
of the saying that this rider had power given him
over the fourth part of the earth to kill with the
sword ? Why has he power over only a fourth part ? "

He answered, " The division of men into classes does
not always imply numerical divisions. The four
horses and their riders go out to do certain work ; each

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one of them does his own work. In doing this, each
one operates on some part of mankind, who are made
better or worse by the contact. But this does not
mean that equal numbers will always be affected by
each ; sometimes one will outstrip the others, and
sometimes another. But each of them will do his
best to reach as many as he can. The meaning, I
think, is simply this, this horse and his rider repre-
sents one of the four great agencies that act upon
human society, and he has the power to kill his part
with the sword, and with famine, and with pestilence,
and with the wild beasts of the earth. As a matter of
fact, he will do more than one-fourth of the killing, for
he uses the means employed by his friendly rivals, and
in addition he has pestilence and the wild beasts of
the earth."

" What about the killing with the wild beasts ? "
inquired Truth again.

He answered, " As a symbol, a wild beast represents
a persecuting power. It may be an empire, or it may
be a kingdom, or it may be some petty state. But
whether great or small, a persecuting civil government
is like a ferocious life-destroying wild beast."

THE TEST OF HISTORY AGAIN.

Again will we test Mr. Deeming's theory of inter-
pretation by an appeal to hiwstory. If the explanations
are founded in truth, history will back them up ; if
they are not thus founded, it will condemn them as
fanciful and false.

Two forces were at work-in opposition to the pure
and simple Christian system at the time that the
Emperor Constantine professed to be converted and
cast in his lot among the Christians. These forces
antagonized each other in some things, but both of
them were working against the rider on the white

THE PALE HORSE.

165

horse. They had done a great deal of harm to the
Church — one as an outside, open enemy ; the other as
a professed friend. But he had been kept in check, so
that the Church had not felt the full force of his
power, and it was not until after the antagonism be-
tween Imperialism and Ecclesiasticism ended in the
conversion of the Emperor that clerical defection ^.nd
ecclesiastical tyranny could fully develop itself. But
no sooner had the Emperor proclaimed himself a
Christian, than a connection was formed between the
State and the Church, and the result of that union was
the birth of the man of sin that St. Paul speaks of.
Now let history speak as to the character of this
thing called " State-churchism."

In the person of Constantine we see the head of
Paganism carried into the Church. Robertson, of
Kilmaurs, says, " The title, the ensigns, and the prero-
gatives of Pontifix Maximus, or Supreme Pontiff of the
Pagan system, which had been borne by his predeces-
sors were retained by him and six Christian emperors
who succeeded him. Gratian was the first who re-
fused the robe and office of Sovereign Pontiif of
Paganism, as being inconsistent with the profession of
Christianity.*

And further, the same author goes on to say, " To
show that the Pagans had suffered little or nothing
directly from the Christian government of Constan-
tine, we may mention that they not only invested him
with the office of Supreme Pontiff, while he lived, but
by a decree of the Senate they gave him a place
among their gods after his death."

From this it appears that Constantine was at one
and the same time, the Supreme Pontiff of Paganism
and the head of the Church, and claimed to be above
the officers of the Church.

* Gratian was one of the most virtuous and pious of emperors.
He was assassinated in A.D. 383, at the early age of 24.

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Mr. Robertson says again, " Then the Emperor began
to call assemblies, to sit, speak, and judge in them ; to
assume the title of bishop of bishops, to act as supreme
judge in ecclesiastical, as well as in civil and military
affairs; and to usurp other prerogatives of Christ."
And right here this plain, ohl Scotch divine goes on to
say, " She who then took the title of the Church, the
Holy Catholic Church, and the Church of Rome, is
no longer spoken of as the Church of Christ or his
spouse, but is rejected by him and stigmatized as a
faithless prostitute who, looking to the kings of the
earth for support and protection, and, by submitting
to their authority, admits them into the place of her
only head and husband. In no expression of this book
of the Apocalypse does Christ afterwards acknowledge
her as his. She is thenceforward a persecutor, °a
slayer of saints, and a drunkard."
^ Not only was the head of Paganism carried into the
Church in the person of Constantine, but the system
of Pagan worship was mingled with the Christian
services as well.

I can only mn.ke room for two short quotations from
Dowling's " History of Romanism " on this head.

" That the policy of conciliating the heathen nations,
by adopting their pagan ceremonies into Christian
worship, had been adopted previous to the epoch of
papal supremacy, A.D. 606, is abundantly evident
from the instructions given by Gregory the Great to
Augustine, his missionary in Britain, and to Serenus,
the Bishop of Marseilles, in France, both of whom had
written to the Pontiff for advice."

" In his advice to Augustine, Gregory says, among
other things, 'Whereas it is a custom among the
Saxons to slay abundance of oxen and sacrifice them
to the devil, you must not abolish that custom, but
appoint a new festival to be kept either on the day of
consecration of the churches or the birthday of the

ut
of
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THE PALE HOKSE.

167

saints whose relics are deposited there ; and on these
days the Saxons may be allowed to make arbors
around the temples — chan^^ed into churches — to kill
their oxen and to feast as they did while they were
still Pagans, only they shall offer their thanks and
praises not to the devil, but to God.' "

Another quotation is l.s follows, " The Franks who
had settled in the south of Gaul had been indulp^ed, at
the time of their conversion, in the use of images, and
that indulgence had insensibly brought them back to
idolatry ; for turning the images of Christ into idols,
they paid them the same kind of worship or adoration
after their conversion which they had paid to their
idols before their conversion."

Two facts appear from these quotations. The first
is, that the Church was brought into partnership with
secularism in regard to its government ; and the second
is, that she was brought into touch with Paganism in
regard to her worship. And when the government
and worship of the Church is secularized and pagan-
ized, what have w^e left that deserves the name of
church ? With its government gone into secular
hands, and its worship partly idolatry and partly a
formal Christianity, has it not lost its identity as the
Church of Christ, and has it not become a mere
human institution, without spiritual life and power ?

THERE WERE PROTESTANTS THEN.

This condition of things was not acceptable to all
the Christians at that time, any more than it is accept-
able to all Christians now. In 311, the Donatists
separated from the Church of Rome, because they had
appointed over them a bishop that they had no voice
in electing. They were called by this name from
Donatus, their leader. He was an African bishop
of talent and influence. These Christians were not

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charged with error in doctrine even by their enemies,
neither were tliey accused of sinful practices. Their
fault consisted in their refusing to acknowledge the
Emperor as the head of the Church, or, in other words,
they protested against the union of Church and State,
" the roan horse and his rider."

These people were persecuted and petted by turns,
as the temper of the emperors, and other circumstances
might dictate, for the time being. But they increased
in numbers and influence, until they became a mighty
force in Africa and other parts of the empire. Robert-
son says, " The only errors charged upon the Donatists
by their adversaries, is their uncharitableness in
refusing to grant that their persecutors were the ser-
vants of Christ, and employed in doing God's service,
and in saying that the}' themselves were the true
Church of Christ. It is admitted that in doctrine
they were Scriptural, and in Christian practices,
exemplary."

Threats and imprisonment, or banishment, or pain,
or death, failed to bring many of the Donatists into
alliance with the State Church. Presents and flattery
were equally unable to subvert these stern protesters
from their principles.

And in spite of all that the Catholic Church, with all
its wealth and influence ; in spite of all that the State,
with the Emperor at its head ; in spite of the red horse,
and the black horse, and the pale or roan horse and
their riders, could do, the Donatists grew stronger
and more numerous as time passed on.

In A.D. 411, the Emperor Honorius sent a tribune
to meet a council at Carthage, with full power to settle
the dispute. At that meeting there were present 286
Catholic bishops, and those of the Donatists were
279. The Catholics had a majority of only seven.
The Donatists had been a separate community just
one hundred years. The fact that they were able to

THE PALE HOJISE.

109

meet their opponents with such a number of bishops,
notwithstanding their persecutions, shows that they
must have had wonderful vitality at all events.
Where was the true Church, the Bride of Christ, then ?
With the State Church ? No. With the Donatists ?
So far as she was in any organization, yes ; for she
had not yet gone into the wilderness.

Another thinji that followed the union of the Church
with the State was the fact that the two combined
became a persecuting power, so much so that the per-
secutinfj; work of the Pao>ms before the conversion of
Constantine was continued and intensified by this new
enemy.

Shortly after he came to the throne Constantine
issued an edict from Milan. This was in 318; in this
edict he grants liberty of conscience and freedom of
public worship to Christians in general ; but in this it
was declared to be the Emperor's pleasure that the
sects or heretics be left out. The immediate elfect of
this action on the part of the Emperor was to make
the Catholic the established Church.

From this time on those outside of the Catholic
Church have been tit subjects of persecution, whenever
and wherever her connection with the State has given
her power to persecute. And wherever the pale horse
and his rider can wield the weapons of his predecessors,
and where the Church is in alliance with the State,
there is trouble for Dissenters and outsiders ; no
matter whether said State Church be called Catholic,
Greek, Lutheran or Protestant, for State-churchism is
a persecuting system wherever it is found. This pale,
or roan, horse and his rider don't belie themselves in
any country nor in any age. It is a dyed-in-the-wool
persecutor of those who differ from it. Mr. Robertson
very properly says, " From the time of Constantine in
his imperial city, to that of James II. in London,

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Established Churches have rested on the same princi-
ples and have been supported by the same means."

We now see in these three horses and their riders
the three great enemies of Christianity. Imperialism,
Ecclesiastism and State-churchism, like three foul
spirits, have hounded the white horse and his rider
down the stream of time ; and as systems, they are in
the world to-day, although their action is somewhat
modified by the enlightened freedom of the nineteenth
century. They have changed their form and appear-
ance sometimes, as we shall see further on. But their
spirit and object is unchanged during the eighteen
centuries since the first one made his appearance, to be
followed in quick suc^ission. We shall find them
further on associated with other forms and other
surroundings, but they will lose neither their identity
nor their mischievous tendencies in whatever garb
they may appear.

" Have you heard the news ? " inquired Hope of
Ecclesia at the next meeting for reading from John's
Revelation.

" What news do you refer to ? " asked Ecclesia.

" The change that has come over the Emperor," Hope
answered.

" What has the Emperor been doing and how has
he been changed ? " asked Truth.

" He riaims to be converted, and says that henceforth
he will live the life of a Christian, and do the work
that the Church may give him to do. Is that not en-
couraging news ? " said Hope.

" I am so glad to hear that the Emperor, the head
of the great lloman empire, is going to be on our
side," put iu Lovo.

" It is all well," '^aid Faith, "if he comes as a sinner,
seeking peace and pardon in the same way that others
have done ; if he leaves his idols, and his pride of
office, and his licentious way of living, and comes and
casts in his lot with our mistress and her friends, then

THE PALE HORSE.

171

I shall be most happy to welcome him, and to assist
him in every way I can. But if he comes, bringing his
imperial dignity, and depending on his position as
the ruler of the nations that compose this mighty
empire, thinking that therefore he has a right to con-
trol thp actions of our beloved mistress, thon I, for
one, will be very sorry that he has come at all."

" It is always best to look at the bright side of things,
and to make the best of everything," said Hope, who
was somewhat elated by the thought that the Emperor,
in future, would be found on the side of the Christians.

" We must not be carried away by appearances,"
said Mr. Deeming ; " the conversion of the Emperor
may be the prelude to the appearance of the roan
horse and his rider. For what is more natural than
that the Emperor will try to form an alliance with
the Church, and introduce the very thing we have been
talking about, State-churchism ? "

They were all somewhat startled by the voice of
E3clesia in clear, ringing tones, as she started to sing
the following lines :

"My mind is troubled by this thought,
That often comes to me unsought,
Will others seek to take the place
Of Him who profFei'ed me His grace,
When standing on the mountain side,
He owned and claimed me for His bride ?

" Will they invite me to forget,
That solemn hour when last we met,
On Olive's summit that sad day,
When from my sight He passed away
Into the heavens to fit a place.
Where I again may see His face?

" No ! sooner let my being end,
Than treacherous ]>rove to such a friend ;
Better a thousand times that I
Should in some dungeon starve and die ;
For death to me would then be gain,
And I should go with Kim to reign."

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CHAPTER XII.

A DISAPPOINTMENT.

!!i;

ECCLESIA was powerfully affected by the intelli-
gence that the Emperor had really and publicly
united with the Christians. But she kept hei thoughts
pretty much to herself, awaiting the developments of
the future. She said to Mr. Deeming, " I am ready to
go on with our readings at any time that suits you."

" Very well," said he, " you may commence at once
if it pleases you."

She read, "And when he had opened the fifth seal,
I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain
for the word of God, and for the testimony which
they held : and they cried with a loud voice, saying,
How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge
and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth ?
And white robes were given unto every one of them;
and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for
a little season, until their fellow-servants also and their
brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be
fulrilled."

Mr. Deeming said to Ecclesia, " You may stop there
for the present."

" How is it that no living creature calls the atten-
tion of John to the opening of thi' eal ? " inquiied
Truth.

A DISAPPOINTMENT.

173

Mr. Deeming replied, ' There were but four of the
livinoj creatures, and each one of them has done its
work by introducing one of the horses and riders into
the arena of the great contest. They have disappear.ed
for the present ; but that does not interfere with the
effects produced by the opening of this seal."

" Why are these souls of the martyrs under the
altar, instead of being before the throne along with
the elders and living creatures, and the multitude of
worshippers?" inquired Ecclesia.

" We will come to that after awhile," said he ; " but
first, we will notice what was the condition of things
at the opening of this seal."

" When the first seal was opened we saw Christianity
as a system, wnth the glory of Christ shining through
it and out of it, going forth to the conquest of the
world, and to bring men into harmony with God and
with each other. No sooner was his work begun than
another horse and rider starts out with a great sword
to take peace from the earth ; and he kills with the
sword in the hands of state authority, those who have
yielded to, and been conquered by, the white horse
and his rider."

"Then another horse and rider comes on the scene,
and joins in the conflict ; and he kills with famine, by
starving the souls of men as effectually as his ally
kills their bodies with the sword of persecution. But
still the Christian system gained in influence year by
year, until it climbed the imperial throne, and laid its
hand upon the sceptre of the mistress of the world."

" But during these years of conflict millions upon
millions of Christians perished ; and the only comfort
that their friends had, or that the Church could have,
WHS the Christian hope of a future life. But who had
ever come back to tell the story of that life ? Here
they are found under the altar. The altar was a place
of security among the Pagans; and if a j)ei'son accused

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of any crime could only get to their altar of worship
and take hold of its horns he was safe, as it would be
sacrilege to tear him away from an altar of the gods.
A Pagan would understand this to imply that these
souls had found a place of safety and rest. The
Christians would see it in a different light ; to them
it would be an evidence that these souls under the
altar were f^afe, being covered by the blood of the
slain Lamb, that had once been offered in sacrifice for
their, sins, and that now he stood before the throne as
the evidence of their salvation. These are the souls
of martyrs whose bodies had been destroyed by the
Jews before the overthrow of their city and nation,
and by the Pagans during their ten general persecu-
tions of the Christians."

" Why did they cry from under the altar ? Why
not stand before the throne and make their appeal for
justice to themselves and to their murderers ? " asked
Truth.

" They are speaking, not to men but to God," said
Mr. Deeming ; " and it was fit and proper that they
should speak to him from under the altar, or, in other
words, through the blood of the slain Lamb."

" Why was their prayers not answered, being, as
you say, offered through the blood of atonement ? "
inquired Truth.

" They were, but not in the way and at the time
that these souls expected," he answered. " Though
this scene is laid in heaven, it has an intimate relation
to earth. We do not think that prayer is one of the
exercises of heaven. But these souls are still in touch
with the earthly period of existence, and they are ask-
ing for the straightening out of some things on earth.
They had left this life under a cloud. They had been
condemned and executed as criminals. Their names
had been cast out as evil, and their characters had been
aspersed, and their reputations ruined in this world,
while theii' enemies had gone on and prospered."

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A DISAPPOIiJTMENT.

175

"How did the opening of this seal lead them to
think that the time had come for the divine interposition
in this case ? " asked Hope.

" They were misled by the appearance of the roan
horse and what followed it. When Christianity got
hold of the helm of state, in the person of a professed
Christian emperor, these souls, as well as others who
were still in the body, thought the time had come
when there would be a change. They expected that
persecution for religion would be a thing of the past,
and they wanted themselves to be vindicated, and their
persecutors to be forced to confess their sins in putting
them to death.

" The soul and the life sometimes mean the same
thing, and the two words are sometimes used as equiva-
lents. The life in the body is in the blood. There-
fore, to shed the blood is to shed the life. Now, if life
and soul are the same, the shedding of the blood is the
giving of the life or soul. God said to Cain, 'The voice
of thy brother's blood crieth to me from the ground.'
This means the brother's life.

" Now, these people had sacrificed their lives on the
altar of truth, and for the cause of the Redeemer they
had suffered the death of the body. From under that
altar their blood, or life and soul cries to God for justice.
In the name of truth, the altar of their sacrifice, they
cry for justice for themselves and upon their slayers.
I do not give either of these explanations with a cer-
tainty that it is the true one ; but it is the best that I
can do, seeing that the subject is beset with difficulties,
in whatever light we may view it And the opening
of this seal was not the cause of these cries. It was
the drawing aside of the veil, so that John saw and
reported what was going on, and had been going on
wince the roan horse made his appearance at the time
that Church and State clasped liands, and were joined
in wedlock,"

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176

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

" What is the meaning of the saying that white
robes were given them ? " queried Truth.

Mr. Deeming replied, " White i« the emblem of
purity, of freedom from blots or anything that is like
pollution. Hence, to be clothed in white and clean
garments means an unimpeachable character on the
part of the person to whom the white robe is given.

" These people had not only been killed, but their
reputations had been ruined in the conmiunities where
they had lived. Their neighbors had pronounced them
bad, and had killed them. Their friends had to put up
with the taunts and jeers of the Pagans. They wanted
the stigma taken from their names. That was all
that earth could do for them, and they wanted that
much to be done.

" They were given white robes ; that is, their char-
acters w^ere vindicated. Public opinion was entirely
changed toward them. The same government that
had persecuted and killed them now erected monu-
ments to their memories. The populace that, as
Pagans, had hounded them to the death, now, as Chris-
tians, not oidy exonerated them from all blame, but
thej'^ honored them as saints. They wiped every stain
from their reputation, and gave them a place in their
records amonof the verv noblest of the race. Their
characters were made white on earth by the verdict of
public opinion, and their robes in heaven were made
white in the blood of the Lamb.* So that their
prayers were answered in a way differing from the
way they expected. But God often does that way in
answ^ering the prayers of his people."

* We know as a matter of history, that this feeling was carried
so far in after ages that the graves of martyrs were desecrated by
the hands of supei'stitious and ignorant Christians. And where-
ever a bone could be found, or a piece of cloth that had once
been a pai't of one of their garments, these sold for enormous
prices, and were held to possess some sort of miraculous power.

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A DISAPPOINTMENT. iV?

MORE PERSECUTIONS TO COME.

" Why were they told to rest for a season, until
their fellow-servants and their brethren also should
be killed as they were ? Do you think there will be
any more persecutions, now that the Roman Emperor
is converted ? " Ecclesia asked.

"They thou,o-ht that the time of persecution was
ended," said Mr. Deeming, in answer to Ecclesia.
" But in this they are mistaken. They are told to rest
for a season. That is, to quietly wait for further
developments under the new order of things. It was
very natural for them, as it is for others, to suppose
that the Christians who had been so severely per-
secuted by the heathen would never think of perse-
cuting one another, especially since Christianity is
essentially a religion of peace. But the declaration
made to these souls under the altar dispels that sup-
position. We must not forget the fact that under the
old order of things only one of the enemies was a
persecutor by the sword. The rider on the red horse
killed with the sword of state for their religion. But
the rider on the black horse killed with famine. These
were not killed for their religion, but they were
starved to death with their religion. But under the
new order of things there is the third enemv that will
be a persecutor, and he will hunt up the victims for
the first ; so that we shall have still one who will
deprive men of strength and courage by starving their
souls, and another one hunting the strong and reso-
lute ones, and handing them over to the rider on the
red horse, to be killed with the sword."

"Really," said Truth, "this roan horse and his rider
has changed the aspect of things very materially, if
your interpretations are correct."

" The inference is drawn from the statement that

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178

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

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their fellow-servants should be killed, as they had
been. That certainly means death by famine, sword
and pestilence," said he.

Just then one of the Christians from Rome, named
Servius, came to them, and addressed Ecclesia, saying,
" Peace be with you and all your friends."

" Whence comest thou, Servius ? " she said, for she
was not a stranger to him.

He answered, " I am recently from Rome ; I am
sent by a convocation of leading bishops to tell you
that the Emperor has united with the Church, and he
wishes to form an alliance, both offensive and defen-
sive, between the State and the Church. The bishops
are delighted with the proposal, and they want you to
come at once, so that a treaty or compact, or whatever
it is to be called, may be ratified. They say it will be
a great advantage, as it will place the officers of the
Church on a level with the officers of the State.
Besides that, they say that it will give you, as the
representative of the Church, a position almost as
dignified and important as that of the Emperor him-
self. And further, they say that when the State and
the Church unite and work together paganism can be
driven out of the world, and the heretics can be
punished as they deserve. They can be dealt with as
the Christians were under the pagan emperors."

Ecclesia had been strangely affected while Servius
was speaking. Sometimes tears would be seen glisten-
ing in her eyes ; then a flush of indignation would
redden her cheeks. At times her chin would drop, as
though all her strength and fortitude were gone.
Then again, her lips would be compressed and her
teeth set tofjether, as if some fixed and unalterable
determination had taken possession of her mind and
heart and will. A nervous twitching about the mouth,
and a sort of convulsive movement of the hands,
evidenced the depth of feeling and strength and force

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A DISAPPOINTMENT.

179

of the wild hurricane of emotion that then swept
over her soul. The decisive moment had come ; and
now it was for her to settle, once for all, the question of
her relation to her Lord and Master and to the world.

Presently she spoke, and it was evident that her
words, spoken with deliberation, were the exponents
of her thoughts. And when once spoken they would
not need to be repeated. Her resolution was unalter-
ably taken, and from it she could not be driven.

She said to Servius, " Go back to the bishops and
tell them, from me, that I cannot and will not enter
into any alliances with the State. My work in the
world has been marked out for me, and to that work
I shall confine myself now and always. I am willinor
to help the Emperor to save his soul ; if I can, and I
am ready to help him in promoting the moral and
spiritual interests of his subjects. And I shall be
thankful if he sees fit to tolerate and protect my people
from the hands of persecutors ; but I cannot look to
him for direction in my movements, nor can I receive
dictation from him as to my work. All I want from
him is equal rights with other citizens ; but I claim
no special favors."

Faith spoke, and said, " That is well, my dear mis-
tress ;' I am more than pleased, I am delighted to hear
your decision on this very important question."

Truth said, " Do you know, dear mistress, that this
is the most momentous question that you have had to
do with since the day that our dear Lord and Master
took his departure from you, when he went away to
prepare a place for you, and for all your faithful friends.
And I am so glad that you have decided not to entangle
yourself in any doubtful alliances."

Hope was just about to speak, when they saw two
old men coming toward them, and only a few steps
from them. " Now," said Ecclesia, '""for more senseless
and useless arguments."

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CLOTHED WITH THE Sl/N.

II ';

-me a,s he looked Zill^^^^'^'" ''''' '"-""-

«tead'j;Tnthe%ace ^'The^^n!^'' f ^^ ^^oked them
If-. And he and 'the tfer T^l'^^^^ ^ ^W
ot <^heni, are wantino- ' T' ^ ^^""^^^ «ay a part
they have sent tor Eott T ^" alliance. K
that the commpf ^ f cdesia to come to R. ^

"I am r'^S? "'^-^^ ^^ ratified " -^"^^^^ ««

the best opportunity that h? ""'' '" ">»* case

'Jui mistress sees thic *i,- •
«"d we are all oT the L '"« '" " liferent li„ht •
answered Faith. '" "?'"""> that she is riJhf "

■Doubtsome replied " T* ■ "

or I should rather sov if ; "* *, """'«' ""aWer of ooininn
•^dit is no mark rf ^^tdom f ', T''"'^^ "^ -"Ct '
the judgment." "'■^''°'» '» 'et sentiment control

, inat IS true" sinU r-
"'Jow 3enti„ent'to td us?o°"?^':''°^ >' '» not safe to
cannot see the dan,,e"s which t"' T^'^^^'^- '^o »« we
seems to me there is onl/one^aS r '" ""^^ P'''^- ^t
eitl^er accept the Emoeror^ t- , "'''''"^ '" this matter
■"ake an enemy of Zr^r'alHuX '^'-^"^'y ofteTr;

'time to come. Perhaps

A DISAPPOINTMENT.

181

you all remember what my friend and I advised, when
last we met. But our advice, given from the best of
motives, was disre<^arded. The consequences of that
rejection is terrible to think of, and I greatly fear
that consequences still more dreadful will follow a
refusal to comply with the very reasonable request of
the Emperor."

Truth spoke with a good deal of emphasis, saying,
" Do you two old men know what you are doing ?
What would you say of a wife who would prove false
and treacherous to her husband, if some man with
high-sounding titles and plenty of wealth would offer
her his support and protection on the condition that she
deserts her husband and betrays the confidence that
he reposed in her when he left her as his representa-
tive, until he should return to take her with hirn ?"

" You use a strong figure to illustrate the case," said
Doubtsome ; " but I do not think that a woman would
be so very much to blame if, after her husband had
been a long time absent, leaving her largely to depend
on her own resources, she should make the best
arrangement she could for herself, and especially as
she could have no certainty of her husband's return.
But that is not a parallel case."

" It is exactly a parallel case," said Truth. " My
mistress sustains the same relation to her Lord that a
woman does to her husband. Paul says, ' For the hus-
band is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the
head, of the Church. Therefore as the Church is sub-
ject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own
husbands in every thing. For this cause shall
a man leave his father and mother and shall be
joined unto his wife, and they twain shall be one
flesh. This is a great mystery : but I speak concerning
Christ and the Church.' You see from this, that the
case of my mistress is as the case of a wife to her
husband. And if she should form this alliance with

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CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

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the State, she would be acting like a woman who
deserts her lawful and righful husband to become the
adulterous wife of another man."

" I am very much afraid," said Fearsome, " that if
she stubbornly refuses to comply with the Emperor's
request, that the great sword of state will again be
unsheathed and martyr-blood will flow again, as it has
done in the past. I think it is very inconsiderate on
the part of your mistress to expose her people to need-
less persecutions, when by simply entering into this
alliance she might save them from pains and death,
and herself from much perplexity and trouble."

While Fearsome was delivering this last little speech
of his, they were all somewhat taken by surprise by
the approach of a stranger. He came up to them
with a confidential air, and with a bland smile upon
his face. He looked first at one and then at another of
the little group. Then he introduced himself in an
easy, ofF-hand manner, that made a favourable impres-
sion on the company. It was evident from his manner
that he was a diplomatist by profession. He said,
" My name is Fulsome, I am one of the Emperor's con-
fidential friends ; he sends me to settle some of the
most delicate and difficult cases of diplomacy ; I am
direct from Rome. Two days ago I dined with Con-
stantine at his own table. I am here on a mission of
great importance to the empire as well as to the
Church. My commission I have directly from the
Emperor's own mouth, so that there can be no reason
for doubt or hesitancy in the case."

Then turning to Ecclesia, he said, in a most concilia-
tory manner, " I presume Lucius has already told you
what is going on in Rome in reference to the union of
the Church with the State."

She answered, " Lucius has told me that some of
the bishops are desirous of forming an alliance with
the State ; but the bishops are not the Church, any
more than the Emperor's body-guard is the empire."

A DISAPPOINTMENT.

183

"Do not the bishops exercise authority over the
Church ? " asked Fulsome, in some perplexity.

" They exercise authority in the Church, but not over
it," was her answer.

" Where, then, is the source of ultimate authority in
and for the Church ? " he asked again.

" With the great Head of the Church, who has pur-
chased it with his own blood, and who is now in
heaven, preparing a home for his Church, which is the
Lamb's wife," she answered.

" May I ask, of whom is the Church made up ? or, in
other words, who are its members, and what relation
do you sustain to the Church, and to him whom you
claim for the head of it ? " said Fulsome, with some
asperity.

She replied, *' Those who are saved from their sins,
and who are living soberly, righteously, and godly in
this present world, whose names are written in the
Lamb's Book of Life.

" My relation to the Church is simply this, I stand
before the world as its living representative, acting for
it, so that what I do the Church does, and what I
refuse to do, the Church refuses to do. In a word, I
am the Church personified.

" My relation to the head of the Church is that of a
wife to her lawful husband. While I am true to him
he is my director and defender, and while acting
under his directions, I am acting as his representative,
so that what I, his wife, does he may be said to do;
and, on the other hand, what I refuse to do, he refuses
to do. So you see I need to be very cautious in my
movements in regard to all kinds of alliances."

1? alsome replied, " Supposing the bishops and the
Emperor should conclude to unite, and then the Em-
peror should legalize the organization formed by the
bishops, and should proclaim it as the established
Clmrch of the empire, what effect would it have

, ., . , ,

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I 1

184

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

upon yourself, and the Church that you claim to
represent ? "

" It' the bishops and the Emperor should see fit to
form a Church of their own, that could in no way
affect my relation either to the true Church or to its
Head, though I think it would be a great injury to the
cause of Christianity."

Then Ecclesia asked Mr. Deeming what he thought
of this movement. He answered, " As the interpreter
of the roll in your hands, I have feared this ; though it
is not unexpected by me, yet I cannot but deeply
regret that your bishops have so easily fallen into this
trap ; for I can look at it in no other light than that
it is a deep-laid plot to inveigle the Church into a dan-
gerous, if not fatal, entanglement with the world ; and
I am certain that the book of truth, given for your
guidance, will not tolerate any such union."

Fulsome said, " Do I understand, then, that you de-
cline the offer of assistance and protection which the
Emperor has, in the kindness of heart, seen proper to
make you? Is that what I am to tell him? Think
well before giving your final answer. Remember that
the kind offer of an emperor is not often rejected, and
never is it done with safety to the rejecter. I wait
for your answer, and I hope it will be reasonable.'

" The same ans\ver that I made to the messenger
from the bishops I now make to the Emperor's mes-
senger. It is this, and it is final : I cannot, and will not
enter into any worldly alliances. I respect the Em-
peror, and I am not ungrateful for his offer ; brt on
no condition can I accept it."

Fulsome and Lucius went away together, and Doubt-
some soon followed their example.

After they were all gone, Mr. Deeming said, " This is
only the beginning of the work of the roan horse and
his rider. I am afraid that he will be very trouble-
some to you in the years to come, but thera is no need

A DISAPPOINTMENT,

l<s;

to be frightened, you will come out all right in the
end. "

Hope began to sing in a strong, clear, and ringing
voice :

'• Tho gilded bait has been rejected,
And 1 am glad that it is so ;
Fear nut but you ;vill be j)i'otected,
Wliate'er the Emperor may do.

' ' The Master promises to guide you
Into all truth, and peace, and joy ;
And he will ever stand beside you,
And for your help his might employ.

" No power on earth can stand before him.
When he makes bare his conijuering arm ;
Long as y<'ii worship and adore hiui,
He will protect you from all liMvm."

■ I

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CHAPTER XIIL

SADNESS AND LAMENTATION.

'8^'

AFTER the messenj^ers from Rome had left them,
Ecelesia and her friends remained in seclusion
for seven days. Her mind had been so tossed and
tortured by the incidents already recorded that she
needed rest ; and she also wanted time for meditation
and prayer. She felt that dark days were in store for
her — days when the sun would be obscured by thick
clouds of threatei.lng blackness. She thought of the
change that had so suddenly come over her situation
and future prospects. Hitherto her ministers and
bishops, as a rule, had stood by her in all her tribula-
tions ; but now she feared that many of them were
being turned from her by the prospects of worldly
gain. How many she could not tell, as yet, but from
what had been told her, she believed that the defec-
tion was widespread, and that probably most of the
more prominent of her ministers and bishops would go
into the Emperor's new organization, which would, in
all likelihood, take upon itself the name of the Church
in Rome. And it required all her fortitude and all
her faith to bear up under the burden of worry and
perplexity that at that time weighed upon her spirits;
but at the end of the week she had regained sufficient
composure and self-control to resume the study of the

SADNESS AND LAMENTATION.

187

interestinpf fsubject that had been so profitable to them

all.

"Shall 1 j^o on again with the reading?" she naid
to Mr. Deeming, as they found themselves together
once more.

" Yes, if you are ready," he answered.

She read as follows, " And I beheld when he had
opened the sixth seal, and lo, there was a great earth-
quake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair,
and the moon became as blood ; and the stars of heaven
fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her
untimely figs, when .«he is shaken of a mighty wind.
And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled
together ; and every mountain and island were moved
out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and
the great men, and the rich men, and tlie chief
captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman
and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in
the rocks of the mountains ; and said to the mountains
and rocks. Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him
that sitteth on the throne and from the wrath of the
Lamb : for the great day of his wrath is come ; and
who shall be able to stand ? "

" That," said Ecclesia, " is a startling picture, from
first to last. But the cry of these people is a very
different cry from that which was heard under the
fifth seal. Then the cry was for judgment on the
persecutors, now the cry is to be saved from judgment
on themselves."

" Yes, that is true," said Mr. Deeming. " The fifth seal
showed the hopes of the Christians, when the roan
horse and ' * i rider made their appearance. And the
sixth seal shows the terror of the Pagans when the
throne of empire was filled by a professed Christian,
and the State and the Church formed an alliance and
came under one head."

" When this seal was opened, the first thing men-

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CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

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tioned as the result of it is a great earth(juake. What
does that mean ^ " asked Ecclesia.

Mr. Deemin<jf replied, " In the symbols used in
prophecy, the earth means civil society under State
government. An earthquake means a great civil com-
motion, through the effects of which changes are
effected in the powers of government. It may he the
overthrow of an empire or a kingdom ; it may be the
dismemberment of an empire ; or it may be great
political changes in the principles of government."*

" What do you think is meant by the sun being
darkened, so as to be black as sackcloth of hair ? "
asked Truth.

Mr. Deeming answered, "The sun as a symbol is
found in other places in the sacred writings, as well as
in this book. And it will be best for us to spend a
little time right here in trying to find out what is
meant by it.

" We are told in the Psalms that "the Lord God is a
sun." (Psalm Ixxxiv. 11.) Isaiah says to the Church,
'Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the
Lord is risen upon thee ; ' and again, ' but the Lord
shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon
thee. And Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings
to the brightness of thy rising. Thy sun shall no
more go down ; neither shall thy moon withdraw itself:
for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light. (Is. Ix. 1,
2, 3, 20.) ' To you that fear my name shall the Sun of
Righteousness arise with healing in his wings.' (Mai.
iv. 2.) Now, from all these and other passages that

* This earthquake seems to have taken place in the^^reign of
Constantine. He eflfected radical changes in the condition of the
empire, and in the government of all the provinces. He insti-
tuted a new form of civil and military administration. He gave
a new capital to the empire, by changing the seat of government
from Rome to Byzantium, to which he gave the name of Con-
stantinople.

SADNESS AND LAMENTATION.

189

ini((ht be quoted, it seems to me that we may safely say
tliat the sun, in prophetic symbols, means divine light,
(ininnating from the Father of lights, through the Lord
Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, upon the Church of
Christ, and through the Church upon the world. Jesus
.said of himself, '1 am the light of the world.' And he
said to his di.sciples, ' Ye are the light of the world.'
Tiie Psalmist says, 'Blessed h the people who know the
joyful sound. They shall walk, O Lord, in the light
of thy countenance.' John says, ' God is light, and
in hiui is no darkness at all. If we say that we have
fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie,
and the truth is not in us.' (1 John i. 5, 6.)

" From all these Scriptures we may conclude that the
sun symbolizes the light that comes from God, or
divine light shining on objects capable of receiving
and reflecting it."

" How, then, can this light be darkened ? It says that
the sun became dark," remarked Truth.

He answered, " The sun is not darkened in itself,
but the darkness is caused by something that inter-
cepts the rays of light. A thick mist or a dense cloud
gets between us and the sun, so it is dark where we
are. But the sun shines as brightly as ever, only its
rays do not reach us, because of the mist or cloud that
hides it from us."

"'''he Sun of Righteousness cannot be darkened. The
keenest eye can never see a dark spot on it, but its
rays may be intercepted. Clouds are something that
Hoat in the air, and intervenes between the sun and
ourselves."

" Now the air, as I have already told you, symbolizes
public opinion. And clouds may represent the fanci-
ful notions, and fatal errors, and mischievous theories
that start up and are borne on the ever-changing
currents of public opinion, until they hang, like dense
clouds, over the mental and moral perceptions, and
leave men in thick darkness."

; ' 1

^S!S,% ■

190

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

" The darkness in this case is confined to two classes
— the Pacjans and the promoters of the scheme of the
Emperor, and the bishops who have joined with him
in the unitinjx of the Church, so-called, with the State.
To the true Christian there is no darkness. Like the
cloud that followed the people of God in olden times,
it is li^ifht to them while it is darkness to their enemies.
To the Pagans this forebodes evil; to the State
Church party it promises wealth and preferment,
and to the faithful followers of the Lord Jesus it
means the fulfilment of the prophecies.

I! • I! .1 !

MOON AND STARS.

" What is meant by the moon becoming as blood ? "
inquired Ecclesia.

"The moon and stars," said Mr. Deeming, "are sym-
bols drawn from the heavenly bodies, and they always
represent something within the religious realm, or some
spiritual matter. The moon shines by the light of the
sun that falls upon it ; without this it would be dark
and invisible to the inhabitants of earth. As a symbol,
it must represent .something that gets its importance
from outside of itself, and yet something in connec-
tion with spiritual things."

" What is this," inquired Truth, " that can be said
to get its significance from something outside of itself ;
something that is meaningless in itself, as the moon
would be dark in itself, can you tell ? "

" I think," replied Mr. Deeming, " that if we take
the ordinances that the Lord gave to the Church to
be practised b)'^ the Church in perpetuity, we will find,
on examination, that they will meet the requirements
of the case. The two sacraments of Baptism and the
Lord's Supper, together with the public and private
worship of God, are what we understand to be
divinely appointed means of grace and ordinances in

SADNKSS AND LAMENTATION.

lOI

the Church, to be used by it in helpinj^ men to work
out their personal salvation.

"Take the sacraments, for instance. The act of
taking a bit of bread and a sip of wine has no more
signiticance in itself than eating bread and drinking
water at our dinner has. But when the light that is
shed upon it by the Sun of Righteousness illuuiinates
the symbol and brings to view its hidden meaning,
then it commemorates the work of atonement, and by
it we show our faith in him. ' For as often as ye eat
this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show forth the
Lord's death till he come.' (1 Cor. xi. 26).

" And the act of dipping a person in wa£er, or of
sprinkling water upon him, has no more significance
in itself than there is in falling into a river or getting
wet in a shower of rain.

" But when the light of divine truth falls upon it,
then the symbolic act becomes an outward visible
sign of an inward spiritual grace.

"Take the public worship of God — one of the
appointed means of grace. The mere fact that a
number of people meet together at a certain time and
place, in itself is not of much significance. But when
the meeting is called and takes place in answer to a
divine command, ' Forsake not the assembling of your-
selves together,' and in the expectation of the fulfil-
ment of a divine promise, ' Where two or three are
gathered together in my name, there I am in the
midst of them,' then it becomes full of meaning to
those who go there to worship the Father of spirits in
spirit and in truth. We may learn from all this that
things that are in themselves of little moment, are
full of significance when they get their importance
from something outside of themselves, as the moon
gets its light from the sun. I conclude that by the
moon, in this passage, is meant the ordinances of
religion and the means of grace in connection with
the services of the Church."

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CLOTH lilJ WITH TUK SUN.

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" Well, that seems reasonable," said Ecclesia ; *' but
about the moon being like blood. What does that
set forth ? "

Mr. Deeming said, " We will consider blood under
two aspects; then I think we shall be able to see
the force and propriety of the symbol. The blood, in
its proper place and in its normal condition, is the
most essential part of the animal economy. W'hile it
is in the arteries and veins and in a healthy state "-he
life is in the blood, and it carries strength and vigor
to every part of the body. But no sooner is the blood
out of its place, or out of the veins, than it loses the
life that was in it, and it becomes a putrid mass fit for
no place but the dung-hill. Having lost its true rela-
tion to the system, it ceases to be useful, and it often
be«.^mes hurtful.*

" So it is with the ordinances. When used in the
proper spirit and in their true relation to the gospel
system, they assist in promoting spiritual strength and
growth in grace. But when th3y are put out of their
proper place, and are put in wrong relations to the
gospel system, they lose their spiritual significance,
and are merely dead, useless things. And to a spirit-
ually minded person they are as loathsome and useless
as the blood of a dead man is to a living one. The
Church that the Emperor and the bishops have origi-
nated in connection with the State having turned away
from the Christ and substituted the Emperor as its
head, has lost its spirituality, and with it a taste for
spiritual things. So that to it the ordinances have
become a dead form, a,nd are powerless to promote
spiritual life and growth in grace."

* In view of the abuses that have crept into the use of the two
sacraments in some branches of the Church, we can fully endorse
the explanation given above. In one case a piece of wafer be-
comes a god ; in the other case water baptism is substituted for
regeneration, thus placing it in the room of repentance and faith.

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SADNESS AND LAMENTATION.

103

" Well, what is to be understood by the stars falling
from heaven* to the earth ? " asked Truth.

He replied, "The heaven, in prophetic symbols, means
tlio Church, in the same sense that the earth means the
State. The former means a society bound toj^ether by
spiritual ties, the latter is bound or held together by
secular considerations. The one is supposed to stand
on a iiigher plane of morality, and to live in a purer
atmosphere than the other. The officers of the one
have to do mostly with spiritual things, and as they
are supposed to be chiefly interested in the welfare of
the souls of men, their calling is considered a sacred
one. On the other hand, the officers of state have to
do with secular and material things.

" A star is one kind of heavenly body, and it sym-
bolizes the officers or ministers of the Church, who are
supposed to shine as lights in the world. (Phil. ii. 15.)
' Let your light shine ' is the word of Christ to all his
people. (Matt. v. 16).

" The falling of these stars simply means the falling
of ministers from their place in the heaven, or Church,
to a secular position in the State, as m'any iiave re-
cently done. In obedience to the Emperor's demands,
they laid aside, in whole or in part, their sacred offices,
and have become mixed up with the affairs of state.
This is what is meant by the stars falling out of their
places in the heaven. This prophecy is being fulfilled
now in connection with the ministers of the Church."

" What is the meaning of the saying, that ' the
heavens departed as a scroll when it is folded up ? '"
inquired Ecclesia.

" The heaven is the same one from which the stars
have fallen, and it means the Church of Christ — the
true Church — the Church symbolized by the woman
clothed with the sun, that we shall hear a great deal
about further on in this prophecy."

* In the Revised VerBion " the heaven " is the rendering.

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(JLOTflED WITH THE SUN.

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Mr. Deeming continued, " The Church departing or
being removed is to be understood as withdrawing or
retiring from the scene of conflict, and from the con-
tact with the state into which many of lier bishops
and ministers have entered. Her being removed is
her refusing to enter into the Emperor's pbins, and
forming any entangling alliances.* Or, in other
words, the King's Bride refuses to become the partner
of another man, and he removes her from contact
with those who would betray her into such a false
position."

During these explanations Ecclesia seemed to be in
deep thought, and she at length said to Mr. Deeming,
" I did not know when I refused to enter into the
alliance with the Emperor, that I was fulfilling pro-
phecy ; but from what you have said it must have
been so, and I know that I was assisted by a strength
greater than my own in doing what I did. My way
has seemed brighter, and my mind has been clearer,
and my movements have been freer from restraint
since then. I believe that I did what was right."

" No doubt of it," replied Mr. Deeming. " You did
just what the Lord of the kingdom himself has done,
for has he not said, ' My kingdom is not of this world;'
and again, ' It is hard for a rich man to enter into the
kingdon of God;' and once more, 'the kingdom of
heaven is within you?' All these and many more
Scriptures go to show that the relation of his kingdom
to the world is spiritual, and not carnal or secular;
and the Church, which is his Bride, must keep free
from worldly alliances. Yes, you did right; but it will
cost you a great deal before it is all over."

* I am well aware that some commentators and expositors
have applied this to the departure of the system of Paganism,
but how any man can call the V>]oody and obsceno rites of
Paganism heaven, is passing strange to me. They mifst allow
the imagination to run wild.

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SADNESS AND LAMENTATION.

195

" Who is it that removes the heaven from these dan-
i^erous environments," asked Truth.

"It is the Lord himself who withdraws his Church
or Bride, for the same reason that the careful mother
withdraws her child from a dangerous position to save
it from harm."

'' Can tlie Church be safe while its members are per-
secuted and put to death ? " asked Truth.

" Yes, while the Church adheres to the truth, it is
l'oun<]ed upon a rock, and the gates of hell shall not
prevail against it," he answered.

" How can the members of the Church be destroyed
and the Church be said to be safe ?" inquired Faith.

" The Church is an organization made up of indi-
viduals ; any of these may die, and still the Church
lives on. And as long as there are two members left
standino' on the true foundation rock, the or£canizaoion
still remains. The Church is not depending on the
numbers of its members, but on the characters of them."

" Why is it said that the heaven was removed like a
scroll when it is rolled up ?" asked Truth.

" A scroll," said Mr. Deeming, " is a writing on paper
or paichment, formed into a roll. While it is rolled up
it cannot be read, no matter what the writing may be ;
until the roll is opened it remains a secret to all but
the writer, or to the one who dictated it. When it is
taken away and hid before it is opened, its contents
remain a secret. The heaven, or Church, was with-
drawn from the contamination of state-churchism
before its real character was understood, either by the
newly converted Emperor, or the world-loving stars,
who fell f^om their place in the heaven to a position
in the state-founded church, so called : and it will only
be after the struggles and developments of long ages
that the real character of the Church of Christ is to be
fully known and appreciated. But the time will come
when it will shine with a brightness, and reflect a glory
that will astonish, if it does not captivate, the world.

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CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

" And, if any should contend that the State Church
is what is meant ; that it was removed from its old to
its new position, even in that case the illustration holds
good. It would be like a scroll rolled up. For who
could read its future record from what could be seen
and known of it at the time? Who could have fore-
told the blood marks that would stain its pathway
throu(^h the ajjes ?"

" What is to be understood by the mountains and
islands being moved out ofjtheir places ?" said Truth.

Mr. Deeming replied, " We have already stated that
the earth means civil society. A mountain is an
elevated part of the earth ; and as a symbol it means
some elevation in civil society. I think it means the
governing power, whether that be imperial, monarchical
or republican. If this be correct, then the moving of
the mountains will be the removing or changing of the
governments. When one government is done away
with and another one takes its place, a mountain is
removed.

" And I told you that the sea, as a symbol, means
civil society under the influence of religious errors and
superstitions. It may be idolatry, or it may be a
degenerated Judaism, or it may be a corrupted Chris-
tianity, or it may be some other form of false religion,
that is unfit to allay thirsts and meet the needs of the
human souls, as the salt and bitter water of the sea is
to satisfy the thirst of the body. An island is an
elevation of land or rock above the level of the sur-
rounding waters. Islands as well as the mountains were
removed. The islands and the hills may be taken for
smaller governments, perhaps the provinces of the
empire are meant here."*

* There seems to have been a general remodelling of govern-
ments in the provinces of the Roman empire towards the end
of Constantine's life and reign. And these changes affected all
the institutions of the country, both civil and religious.

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(VVMMiMPI

SADNESS AND LAMENTATION.

197

" I read here," said Ecclesia, " that the kings and
chiefs, and other great men of the earth, and every
bondman, and every free man, and the rich and the
captains hid tliemselves in the caves and in the rocks
of the mountains ; and wanted the rocks and moun-
tains to fall on them and hide them from the face of
him that sitteth upon the throne, and from the wrath
of the Lamb. Why are all these people in so much
dread that they would sooner be crushed to death than
that they should face the Lamb ? "

Mr. Deeming answered, " These people were still
Pagans, and when they saw a Christian on the imperial
throne and surrounded by Christian counsellors, they
thought that now was the time ol" their visitation.
They were not strangers to the manner in which the
Pagan emperors had persecuted and ill-"sed the Chris-
tians. They thought that the measure that had been
meted out to the Christians by the Pagans would now
be measured out to them by the Christians. These
people were terrified by the rider on the pale, or
roan horse. When this horse and rider made their
appearance at the opening of the fourth seal, the Chris-
tians thought that the time had come fcr God to
avenge the death of the martyrs. This expectation is
exhibited under the fifth seal. But as they were mis-
taken then, the Pagans are mistaken now. The time
has not yet come to aveage the past, and to correct the
present.

" Paganism is something that has got too strong a
hold on the masses to be so soon eradicated from the
thoughts and feelings of the peoples composing the
Roman empire. A long struggle will go on, and many
a Christian martyr will yet suffer before the dark
night of superstition and ignorance and cruelty shall
give place to the brightness of that day proclaimed by
ancie-' prophets."

" Lo you not think that the Emperor, by the advice

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CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

of the miniisters and bishops of the new organization,
tliat they call the Church, will entirely destroy Pagan-
ism in the eiii|jire, and make Christianity the only
religion upheld by the State ?" inquired Truth.

" No, not yet," said Mr. Deeming. " Constantine is
too shrewd a schemer for that. He wants to secure
the support of the Christians. But he does not want
to lose the sfood-will of the 1 ajjans.* He seems to have
got on the border-land, so to speak, between a belief
in one God, and a belief in many gods — between the
old idolatry and the new Christianity. He seems to
be somewhat like the man whose eyes Jesus touched
once, and the man said he could see ' men as trees
walking'.' He could see some things, but not in their
proper proportions. So it is with the Emperor ; he
can see a difierence between the two systems of
religion, but his spiritual eyes need another touch
before he can see clearly the utter deformity and
repulsive ugliness of the one, and the admirable
symmetry and attractive beauty of the other. He has
ceased to be an out-and-out Pagan, but he is not as
yet a thorough Christian. He needs to be washed in
the blood that cleanses from all sin before he can
stand as an example of consistency before the world."

"Do you think that he is acting the part of a
deceiver ? " asked Ecclesia.

" By no means ; that is, he is not doing so inten-
tionally and consciously. He thinks that he is sincere,
and he thinks that he is a Christian as good as the
best," said Mr. Deeming.

" How, then, can he be a Christian at all if he is not

* As a matter of fact, Constantine never renounced Paganism
himself. At the same time that he was head of the Catholic
Church, he was supreme Pontiff of the Pagan worship. It was
not till seventy-five years after Constantino's conversion that
Paganism was ruled out of the State by the senate under Theo-
dosius the Great in A.D. 388.

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SADNESS AND LAMENTATION.

199

one entirely ? Are we not told that we cannot serve
(iod and rnanunon?" inquired Truth, with much ear-
nestness.

Mr. Deeniincf replied, " The case of the Emperor is
peculiar. H's father, Constantius, was ah/ays favor-
able to Christians, and in the time of the Dioclet'an
persecutions he had, in many ways, proved hiiiiself to
be friendly to them.* And Constantino har^ learned
to look on Christianity with complacency, even before
he had been made acquainted with the sterling morals
of the Christian soldiers found in one of his legions,
which was largely composed of such, and which, on
account of its coolness and courage in the heat of
battle, received the cognomen of the ' Thundering
Lejjion.

Mr. Deeming continued, " Constantino came to the
imperial throne with no prejudices against Christianity;
nor yet had he any strong preferences in favor of
Paganism. He saw much to approve of in the one,
but he did not see that everything in the other was to
be condemned. I think that he is sincere in his
views and actions so far as he has gone, but he has
not gone far enough. He endorses the Christian
religion because it is to his advantage in a worldly
sense to do so. He has seen that Christians can help
him to consolidate the empire and strengthen his posi-
tion. But he has not yet seen that he needs Chris-
tianity to help him to save his soul. That, I think, is
about where the Emperor stands at present."

Ecclesia said to Mr. Deeming, " You spoke awhile
ago of persecutions yet to come upon me and my
friends. Will the Pagans ever regain what they have
lost, and again shed the blood of Christians ? "

*It is said that when Diocletian entered ujmn the work of
persecution of Christians, he did it to save Paganism from extinc-
tion, since almost one-half of his subjects were Christians, and
C(mstantius did what he could to help them.

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fLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

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" These persecutions will not come from Pagans :
but Christians themselves will persecute and de.stroy
each other. That is, the State Church will do so to
all who do not join in with it."

"Why will that Church persecute our mistress and
those who adhere to her ? " inquired Truth.

" Because what the State commands the subject to
do, 7t is either sedition or rebellion to refuse ; and
the State and the Church being under one head, what
is ordered by the Church is commanded by the State.
The Church will order all men to think as she thinks,
to speak as she speaks, and to act as she acts ; and
the State will command them to do so. Those who
refuse, disobey both the Church and the State, and
are liable to pains and penalties."

" If the Church order any of the Christian people
to do what their conscience and judgment forbid
them to do, would the State still insist on their doing
it ? " inquired Truth.

"Yes," said Mr, Deeming, "the right of private
judgment is not allowed by the State Church, and a
person claiming that right would only add to the
penalty by doing so."

Ecclesia, on hearing these words from the inter-
preter, started to sing resolutely :

"I never would such bargain make,

A thousand deaths 1 woukl sooner die,
Than that imperial hand should take
From me what rubies could not buy.

" Freedom of conscience i my own,
And I shall never let it go ;
For He that sitteth on the throne
Did on me this choice gift bestow."

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CHAPTER XIV.

COMING EVENTS FORESHADOWED.

WE have seen the storm-cloud pass over with its
wind and rain and thunder. We have looked
at it as it was retiring in the distance, when upon the
back of it was painted the rainbow of hope, and the
idea has be^n awakened in our mind that the worst
was over. We have seen the flashing of the lightning
and heard the peals of the distant thunder, and we
have said it is over now, and we are safe.

But just then our ears catch the sound of heavy
thunder in the opposite direction, when, lo and behold,
another storm-cloud, darker and more threatening
than its predecessor, hangs on the western horizon.
We find that we are standing between two storms,
and while looking and listening we can catch the
meaning of the poet's lines :

" Siuorm howled to storm,
And lightning, forked lightning, crossed,
And thunder answered thunder,
Muttering sounds of sullen wrath,"

in a way that we never caught it before.

But where we are standing all is calm, serene, and

beautiful. Not a fleecy cloud intercepts the bright

rays of the mid-day sun, the shower-drenched earth is

beneath our feet, and from the leaves the sparkling

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CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

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rain-drops are filing, like the tears of bereavement,
on everything around us. But the forces of nature
seem to be so nearly balanced that not a breeze is felt,
not a leaf is seen to move ; all things are hushed into
ominous silence, listening to the echoes of the storm-
god's voice, as he comes raging and tearing over the
western hills.

Similar to this was the condition of society, civilly
and regliously, between the events described in our last
chapter, at its close, and what is to follow the opening
of the seventh seal. Under the fifth seal we saw what
was the state of public sentiment among the Chris-
tians ; under the sixth seal we saw the state of terror
that tortured the Pagans. Both parties were disap-
pointed, as we shall see further on.

MORE READING.

When Ecclesia and her friends met again, she said
to the interpreter, " I have been looking through this
manuscript since our last meeting, and I find that
there are wonderful and startling things to be met
with all the way to the end of it. It w'U take us a
long time to go through it with our reading and
explanations."

Mr. Deeming replied, "We shall not have time to take
up every part of this roll, in regular order. No doubt,
it is all very interesting, and it would all be very pro-
fitable to study, but for want of time and opportunity
we shall have to content ourselves with taking up the
parts that more directly refer to yourself and your
Lord, and to the enemies of his cause."

" Well, I find here something that interests me very
much ; shall I read it ? " said Ecclesia.

" Yts, if you please," said the interpreter.

She read, "And after these things, I saw four
angels standing on the four corners of the earth, hold-

i li

COMING EVENTS FORESHADOWED.

203

ini? tho four winds of the earth, that the winds should
not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.
And I saw another angel ascending from the east,
having the seal of the living God : and he cried with
a loud voice to the four angels, to whom it was given
to hurt the earth and the sea, saying, Hurt not the
earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed
the servants of our God in their foreheads."

" What does this all mean? " asked Ev'iclesia, after she
had finished the reading.

Mr. Deeming replied, " VVe have now reached a very
important era in your history, an era that has some
dark pages in the records of your experiences ; but it
opens some still darker scenes in the prophecies of the
future. You have already waded through some deep
waters, but deeper waters are still before you, ere
you reach the golden shore of perfect rest and perfect
fruition."

" Who are these angels that hold the winds and
stand on the four corners of the earth ? " inquired
Ecclesia.

"Angels are God's messengers, and they may be
men or spiritual intelligences, or they may be irre-
sponsible beings made use of by the Divine Ruler of
the world in carrying out his purposes. These four
angels have to do with the winds. I have already
told you that the air as a symbol means public
opinion. Wind is air in motion, and it may be
taken as a symbol of public opinion running in
certain directions. What seems to be presented here
is the fact that public opinion is suspended or
held in check by some controlling forces called
angels, to indicate that God was overruling events in
favor of his people. At the opening of the t'ouii^h seal,
all parties were mistaken in their estimate of the real
character of the pale horse and his rider. Both
Christians and Pagans have now found out their

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204

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

mistake, and they arc completely baffled, and cannot
attempt to solve the problem as to the future course
of the enemies, or the friends, of both Christianity and
Paganism.

"The two parties seem to be waiting for further
disclosures before deciding upon any course of action.
The State Church and the Pagans are watching each
other. And the true Church is intensely earnest in
its desire to penetrate the mystery that now hangs
over the question of what the future has in store for
the State and the Church in their married relations.
Will this union result in the production of a Chris-
tianized Paganism, or of a Paganized Christianity ?
Will this union give to the world something a little
better than Paganism as a substitute for pure, unadul-
terated Christianity ?

" These are questions that none but God can answer.
We shall have to wait for the developments of the
coming years before deciding them.* Everything is
held in suspense."

" What about the angel that ascends from the east,
and tells the four angels that are standing on the four
corners of the earth to suspend their operations until
the servants of God are sealed in their foreheads ? "
inquired Ecclesia.

Mr. Deeming replied, " The four corners of the earth
means the whole of it. The earth here means civil
society, and the lesson taught by the four angels is,
that the whole of civil society is affected by the sus-
pense hanging over public sentiment,

" The angel ascending from the east, or from the
rising of the sun, means that he came clothed with
the light. He had the seal or signet of God, showing

* The years have come and gone, and the system of a Pagan-
ized Christianity has had time and opportunity to develop itself.
What has it done for the world i Let history answer.

COMING EVENTS FORESHADOWED.

205

that he spoke by the divine appointment. He cries,
with a loud voice to the four angels, * to hurt not the
earth, nor the sea, nor the trees ' — this means civil
society, under superstitions, and errors, and also uia<^is-
trates, and governors — ' till we have sealed the servants
of our God in their foreheads.' "

" What does the seal on their foreheads mean ? Can
you explain this ? " inquired Truth.

The interpreter answered, " A seal is an acknow-
ledirnient of obligation arisin^j out of a contract made
between two parties ; hence, after important docu-
ments are signed they are stamped with the seal.
And a seal is a mark of ownership.

" Now the Lord God sees in the distance the coming
storm that is going to sweep over society like a
demon of destruction, and before which the empire
itself will fall into fragments. And in the convulsions
that wreck the State and set the sea to boiling like a
heated caldron, men will be tried as in a furnace of
fire. And besides this, the time is nigh at hand when
the State Church will think a great deal more of
oriranized numbers than it will of individual character.
And more effort will be put forth to induce men to
assume the name of Christ, than to lead them ii.to the
faith that works by love and purifies the heart. But
God looks to character more than to numbers or
appliances, therefore he will have a separated people."

" What is the mark of separation ; is it the seal
spoken of by the angel ? " asked Ecclesia.

"I think so," replied Mr. Deeming; "Paul tells us
what this seal or mark of separation is. ' The founda-
tion of God standeth sure, having this seal, the Lord
knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that
naneth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.'
(2 Tim. ii. 19.)

" This is the seal that is stamped upon the heart or
inner life, and upon the forehead or outer life, of his

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206

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

children. By this impression made upon his heart by
the Holy Spirit a man has proof that he belongs to
God; and by its being stamped upon his forehead,
where all may read it, he gives evidence to others that
he is a child of God. And this seal or acknowledg-
ment is at once a pledge of fidelity on his part and a
promise of protection on the part of ^ i. Whatever
the State and Church may do, or v^ t;.', -. they may
fail to do, the true Christians, the t. ale . ones, have
nothing to fear, for ' God is their refuge f.nd strength
in times of trouble.' Whatever fears may alarm and
distress others, the children of God are safe, even
though it were * amid the wreck of matter and the
crash of worlds.' "

These explanations were listened to by the whole
group with an intense interest. And when Mr. Deem-
ing ceased speaking, Ecclesia sang:

" May I be thus kept and defended,

While walking these dark paths of sorrow ;
And, when life's toilsome day is ended,
Find rest and gladness on the morrow.

' ' May I through every storm be guided,
And kept through 'all opposing forces ;
May all things be for me provided

By him who gave the stars their courses.

" Then, when the battle cry is ended,
I hope to tell the victor's story,
With shouts and songs of conquest blended,
High on the sunny hills of glory. "

" Amen ; may we all be there," said Mr. Deeming,
with much emphasis.

" We will all be there ; and what a joyful meeting
that will be," said Hope.

Faith exclaimed : " Yes, we will be there ; but it
will only be after a fearful struggle, for ' they that
would live godly in Christ Jesus must suffer persecu-

COMING EVKNTS FOUESHADOWKI).

207

tion ; ' and those that are already there came out of
^reat tribulation."

" Why is it that the tribes of Israol are named
anionic the sealed ones ? " in(|uired Truth.

" The pious Jews, alon<if with tlie Christian martyrs,
liave cone fjom this world into the home above.
But they are spoken of to show that with God there
is no past or present in the selection of his children.
And this also shows that, whether here or there, all his
children are sealed or separated ones. Both Jews and
Gentiles are saved in the same way. They were from
the twelve tribes to show that from all the branches
into which the visible Church is divided, God knows
those who are his. And there are genuine saints or
sealed ones in all of them. And the one hundred and
forty-four thousand from these tribes is simply using
a known (juantity to represent an unknown one ;
taking a definite number to represent an indefinite
one."

" It is somewhat remarkable that Dan and Ephraim
are left out in the count, and Levi and Joseph are
named to fill up the number. Probably this is be-
cause Dan and Ephraim had been ringleaders in idola-
trous worship, and each one of them had furnished a
place for Jeroboam to set up his false gods — one at Dan
and the other at Bethel. On the other hand, Joseph
and Levi had been faithful and true to their religion
in the hour of temptations."

THE LAST SEAL OPENED.

Ecclesia commenced to read again, saying to Mr.
Deeming, " I am acting on your request to pass over a
part of what is written, for want of time to consider
the whole of it."

She read on, " 'And when he had opened the seventh
seal, there was silence in heaven al)out the space

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of half an hour. And I saw the seven angels whicli
stood before God; and to them were given seven
ti-unipets.' What does this silence mean, and when
will it be, ov has it already been ? " she asked, when
she ceased reading.

Mr. Deeming replied, " We saw a little time ago the
state or condition of things in the State, when the
angels standing at the corners of the earth held public
opinion in suspense. In this case we are shown the
condition of things in the Church, for this silence was
in heaven. Both refer to the same time, and arise from
the same circumstances. There is perfect stillness in
the State and perfect silence in the Church. All
parties were deceived w'hen the roan horse and rider
came on the scene. All parties have found out their
mistake, and now no one in the State dare to form an
opinion, and no one in the Church has a word of oither
praise or censure that he cares to tak' the risk of
uttering. I think that the time referred to is in the
past now, so far as the silence is concerned."*

Ecclesia read again, "And another anoel came and
stood at the altar, having a golden censer; and there
was given unto him much incense, that he should offer
it wnth the prayers of all saints upoii the golden altar
which was before the throne. And the angel took the
censer, and filled it with tire of the altar, and cast it
into the eaith : and there were voices, and thunderings
and lightnings, and an earthquake. And the seven
angels which had the seven trumpets prepared them-
selves to sound."

Mr. Deeming went on to explain what had been

* By Constantine's first edict he abolished all the persecuting
laws of his predecessors, but by his edict of Milan, A.D. .'U.'^, he
excluded a luunber of tlie smaller sects from the benefit of this.
Perhai)s the suspense of public opinitm in Church and State
refers to tliat time when doubts as to his future course prevailed
everywhere.

COMIxNG EVENTS FORESHADOWED.

209

road, as follows : " At the opening of tl^e fifth seal we
heard of the souls of the martyrs under the altar cry-
inir to God. Now we have an ansfel stand infj at an
altar, not the same one, with a golden censer full of
incense, which is to be offered with the prayers of all
saints — that is, all good peoj^le. This incense and
these prayers are offered to God, And, as in times
past God answered by fire, the fire that came down
upon the Jewish altar and consumed the sacrifice on
which a sinner had laid his guilt, represented the
divine justice consuming the guilt with the sacrifice.
Wiien the fire of divine justice meets the sinner at the
altar all is well ; but if this justice overtakes him away
from the altar, woe betide him.

" But this is the golden altar of incense, and is not
to be confounded with the altar on which bloody sac-
rifices are offered. This altar and the services con-
nected therewith, are more expressions of praise and
thanksgiving than confessions of guilt. This altar is
in the holy place, and seems nearer to God. The per-
sons coming to this one to offer incense of praise have
been cleansed from guilt through the efficacy of the
hlood shed for them upon ^he altar of sacrifice. From
off this consecrated spot, and while the prayers of
all saints, mingled with incense, go up to God, the
angel is permitted to take fire, the symbol of God's
consuming justice and burning wrath, and fling it
scathing and scorching into civil society throughout
the lloman empire. And it is no wonder that there
were voices of lamentations and words of astonish-
nient to be heard on every side. And the air is thrown
into confusion ; flashes of indignation and the thun-
der's hoarse bellowing are only the natural results of
the excited state of public opinion now. The Emperor
and his State-made Church have fully declared them-
selves in reference both to Paganism and to Christian-
ity outside the established Church. Tiie Pagans learn

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that their idolatry is not yet in immediate danger
from Christianity, because the Emperor is to be the
legal head of both systems ; and Ecclesia, as the repre-
sentative of pure Christianity, sees what she may
expect in future, since the red horse, and the black
horse, and the roan horse, and their riders, have all
united with the empire (elsewhere symbolized as a
fiery dragon) in the work of persecution. If her old
enemies, under Pagan rule, have stricken her with
whips of cords, these new tormentors will lash her with
whips of scorpions.

" The earthquake here is probably the same as is
described in a former talk, or it may be the first shock
of a greater one that will shake the empire into frag-
ments. An earthquade is a symbol of the downfall
of governments." ■>.

SOUNDING TRUMPETS.

Ecclesia read on again, " And the seven angels
which had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to
sound. The first angel sounded, and there followed
hail and fire mingled with blood, and they were cast
upon the earth ; and the third part of trees was burnt
up, and all green grass was burnt up." (Rev. viii. G, 7.)

Mr. Deeming commenced by saying, " There were
seven seals, and there are to be seven trumpets, and
afterwards seven vials. Each one of these twenty-
one events affects, in some way, the interests of the
Church of the living God in its work and condition in
the world. The sounding of a trumpet is a signal for
conflict, and may be looked on as a call to arms. It
is suggestive of the marshalling of forces.

" At the opening of the first seal, we saw Chris-
tianity, in the person of its head and author, going
forth to the conquest of the world, in the symbol of
the white horse and his rider. The next three seals,

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COMING EVENTS FORESHADOWED.

211

as they were opened, revealed three enemies who
would oppose him — Imperialism, Ecclesiasticism and
vState-Churchism — represented by the red, black and
pale horses and their riders. These were three
systems ; but at that time only one of them had a
tangible instrument in any then existing organization.
In the Roman empire, whose old-time symbols had
been the feet and toes of the great dream-image of
Nebuchadnezzar, and the fourth great beast of Daniel,
and a great red dragon, Imperialism found an agent
and an instrument, with which it has been fighting the
white horse and his rider for many years. But the
other systems were in different circumstances. In
fact, the one was only in its babyhood, and the other
was not yet born. Their careers, at the time of those
visions, were in the future ; but Ecclesiasticism was a
child of rapid growth, and in the primitive simplicity
of the Christian Church it found a congenial atmos-
sphere, and ample room for expansion. Unsanctified
ambition, working through divinely appointed instru-
mentalities, soon gained a prominent place in the coun-
cils of the Church. And when secular ambition, in the
form of Imperialism, and religious ambition, in the form
of Ecclesiasticism, became mutually enrapturea with
each other and united their destinies, the thing pro-
duced was diherent from either. And the two paients
being so nearly related, it is not to be wondered at
that their child, State-Churchism, is a monster. Thv^se
three enemies are now fairly organized for war ; a'^'^
the conflict is to continue through the periods of ...1'
seven trumpets and the seven vials. The trumpet periled
will be a long and tedious one."

" What is the hail spoken of in the text that was
read ? " inquired Truth.

" Hail," said Mr. Deeming, ** is congealed water, and
water is the symbol of religious doctrines and teach-
ing. Pure, clear water means unadulterated religious

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truth ; foul and impure water means corrupt religi-
ous teachinof. Hail means water with all the warmth
taken out of it, and a cold element thrown into it.
It may mean here a war in which all the ordinary
sympathies of humanity have died out of the hearts
of the combatants under false notions of religious
truths.* Possibly the Aryan heresy that has been
polluting the streams of religious truth for seventy-
five or eighty years may be charged with having
much to do with the rigor of this storm."

" What are we to understand by the fire mingled
with blood ? " inquired Ecclesia.

" The fire is the same that the angel took from the
altar of incense and cast into the earth, or civil society,
and it means the divine justice taking hold of trans-
gressors. In a general sense fire, as a symbol, seems
to represent the divine presence. And we must look
outside the symbol for the reason of the display of
God's presence on any particular occasion. If this
presence is for the purpose of protection, he is ' a wall
of fire.' (Zech. ii. 5.) If it is to purify his people, it is
'a refiner's fire.' (Mai. iii. 2, 3.) If it is for the punish-
ment of offenders, he is 'a consuming fire.' (Deut. iv.
24, and Heb. xii. 29.) Many more instances might be
cited, but space will not permit. From all these, it
may be seen that fire symbolizes the divine presence
among men for various purposes."

*Thi8 hailstorm, in all its strength, burst upon the Roman
empire about A.D. 395, when, under the leadership of Alaric, the
semi-Christianized barbarians issued from the northern forest.
And when, A.D. 399, Tritilgald led his Ostrogoths, like a desolat-
ing storm, over the wealthy provinces of Asia Minor. When
Genseric, king of the Vandals, wrested Africa from the empire.
And when, A.D. 441, under Attila, the Huns ravaged the Eastern
empire to the very gates of Constantinople. In fact, the Western
empire, under the continuous peltings of this pitiless storm of
hail, mingled blood and tire, fell into fragments.

COMING EVENTS FORESHADOWED.

213

" But what about the blood that mingles with the
fire ? " inquired Ecclesia.

" Blood," said Mr. Deeming, " represents life. This
terrible combination of hail and fire — the two ex-
tremes of heat and cold — falling upon society like a
legion of destroying angels, many of the people are
killed. And the fire burns up the trees and the grass.
Tb-^ trees mean the men who are elevated to the high
positions in the secular realm, and not the trees of the
Lord's right-hand planting beside the rivers of water.
They are earthly rulers, from kings and emperors
down to the lowest officers of State."

" What does the grass represent ? " asked Truth.

Mr. Deeming replied, "As the trees stand for the
officers and rulers, the grass represents the masses of
the people. The meaning seems to be that the effect
of this storm is felt by all classes, from the highest to
the lowest ; and that the destruction of life was very
great."

HISTORICAL TEST AGAIN.

I ;

Again, we will inquire how far history will cor-
roborate or harmonize with the explanations given.
The period of time covered by the seventh seal and
the sounding of the first trumpet will be about one
hundred and sixty years. It probably commenced
about A.D. 318 or 314, when Constantino united with
the leaders of the Christian Church to form the State
Church, and lasted till the downfall of the Western
empire, A.D. 474, after it had stood as an empire five
hundred and seven years.

The opening of the fifth and sixth seals give us to
see the state of public opinion as to the results that
was likely to follow the doings of the Emperor. The
opening of the seventh seal is a prelude to the sound-
ing of the trumpets as a sort of preparation for the
new series of events which were to follow. Not con-

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tent with establishing; the connection between the
State and the Church, Constantine removed the seat
of empire from Rome to By/antium, to which he gave
the name of Constantinople. Thus he gave to the
Hi Stress of the world a new capital as well as a new
religon. But that was not all. He divided the
empire into four prefectures, and each of these he also
divided into dioceses; and each of these again he cut
up into proconsular governments. These divisions
necessitated the creation of three grades of officials.*
The army w^as reorganized. The standing army was
composed of six hundred and forty-five thousand men
stationed on the frontiers ; and as the Roman citizens
had lost their taste for war, this force was made up
mostly of barbarian mercenaries.

Is it to be wondered at if the public mind would be
so paralyzed that no one would venture the expression
of an opinion as to what was to be the outcome of all
these changes ? Probably the four agents or angels,
seen standing on the four corners of the earth and
restraining the winds, may be none other than the
prefects who governed the four parts into which the
empire was divided.

Constantine found trouble everywhere toward the
end of his reign. His sons and relatives gave him
trouble. His mercenaries gave him trouble. The
barbarians north of the Danube gave him trouble.
He died in 337, after dividing the administration of
public affairs between his sons and nephews. He
reigned thirty-one years.

Constantine commenced his reign by putting to
death all those whose rank or abilities made them at
all dangerous as rivals.

From the death of Constantine till the end of Con-

*See McCabe's "Illustrated History of the World," p. 406
and following.

COMINO EVENTS FORESHADOWED.

215

stantius' reign, there seems to have been an almost
continual internal strife in the empire. Then Julian,
a cousin of Constantius, succeeded him in A.D. 863.
He reigned only twenty months, and was succeeded
by Jovian, a Christian, A.D. 367. He reigned eight
months and died, and was succeeded by Valentinian.
He reigned about eleven years, and was succeed'-d by
his son Gratian.

From this time till the downfall of the Western
empire, history has little else to record than one con-
tinual strife for the mastery among those who ruled
and those who wished to rule.

And then commenced a succession of invasions by
barbarians and semi-barbarians under powerful leaders.
Under these the empire was invaded from so many
different points, that successful resistance became
impossible. The repeated heavy blows that old Rome
received from these stalwart warriors caused her
first to stagger and then to fall. The hail and fire,
mingled with blood, that commenced to sweep over
the empire, did not cease until the feet of the image of
the dream- vision of the Babylonian king were pounded
into fragments. These successions of northern blasts
continued to chase each other until the head of the
terrible beast of Daniel was battered into ten frag-
ments, that stood like'horns upon the seventh head of
the same beast and its counterpart the dragon, seen in
Apocalyptic visions. It needs no strain of the imagina-
tion to see in the last hundred years of the old Roman
empire a full realization of the glowing descriptions of
what was seen, in prophetic vision, in connection with
the seventh seal and the first trumpet.

But what about the Church during this stormy
period ? What about State-Churchism ?

That the State Church had held its own may be
gathered from an instance that is recorded in connec-
tion with the Emperor Theodosius and St. Ambrose,

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Bishop of Milan. Thie Emperor had authorized an
indiscriminate massacre of Thessalonians, because of
some tumult at a circus, where some of his officers liud
lost their lives. The bishop was so displeased, that the
next time Theodosius came to Church, he was met at
the door by the incensed prelate and told that he
should not take any part in the sacred services of the
Church until he made a public confession of his guilt.
After remaininj^ under this interdict for eight months,
he acknowledged his crime in the garb of a penitent,
and was again received into communion at Christmas,
A.D. 390.

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CHAPTER XV.

ECCLESIA AND THE DRAGON.

WHEN Ecclesia and her friends met again for
the study of the sacred rolls, slie said to
the interpreter, " In looking over this writing, I find
tliat after the sixth trumpet is sounded there is a
break in the narrative of proceedings, and a number
of wonderful things are introduced. And among
these is an angel standing on the earth and on the sea,
with a book in his hand, which he raises towards
heaven and swears that time shall be no more. And
then there is a description of two characters called
witnesses, and the way they were treated. And after
the seventh trumpet sounded, there are a woman, and a
dragon, and a terrible beast with seven heads and ten
horns seen in the vision. If there are no objections, I
would like to read about the woman, and the dragon,
and the other beast, before we follow up the records of
tha sounding of the other trumpets."

Mr. Deeming answered, "That is well thought of,
and for different reasons it will be best for us to
introduce the woman, and the dragon, and the beast
here. As I have already said, the trumpets run over
a long period, and the most trying time of this
woman's history will be in this period. The dragon
and the beast will join with her other foes, and follow
her all through the time of the sounding of the trum-
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pets, and it is well that we are made acciuainted with
her and these two newly discovered enemies now. Then
we can trace the footsteps of the woman down through
the dark days that are coming over her pathway with
greater satisfaction, and we can better understand the
work and character of her enemies if we are made so
well acquainted with them that we can identify them
wherever we meet them. You may now read what
you have selected for our lesson to day."

She commenced and read the following very inter-
esting passages from the twelfth chapter of Revela-
tions :

" And there appeared a great wonder in heaven ; a
woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under
her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.
. . . And there appeared another wonder in heaven;
and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and
ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. And his
tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and
did cast them to the earth : and the dragon stood
before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for
to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she
brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations
with a rod of iron : and her child was caught up unto
God, and to his throne. And the woman fled into the
wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God,
that they should feed her there a thousand and two
hundred and threescore years."

" This woman," said Mr. Deeming, " represents the
true Church of Christ,* and surely nothing in the

*The most proper place to introduce this symbol, as "well as
that of the ten-horned beast, is at the commencement of the
warfare between them. Up till near the time of the first trum-
pet the woman had been at home in the Churches instituted by
the Apostles and apostolic fathers ; and the ten-horned beast
had not been independent of the dragon. But now the woman
leaves the State-made Church, and the beast assumes the exercise
of all the powers of the dragon, warring against her.

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ECCLESIA AND THE DRAGON.

211)

world could more properly be used as the symbol of
the Church than that of a ^ood and true woman. It
was through woman's instrumentality and agency that
the world of mankind was involved in sin and ruin ;
it is through the agency and instrumentality of the
Church that sinners are to be brouirht back to Cod
through Christ. What could be more in harmony with
the fitness of things than that the agent in the one
case should be the symbol of the agent in the other ?
Can anything be more seemly than that she who
used her mighty influence over man to get him into
trouble, should be sanctified and then use(l as a l)eacon
light to point men into the way to get out of trouble,
by representing to them the Church of the Living
God, that has been placed in the world as an uplifting
force to raise the fallen to the status of the children of
God?

"In prophetic symbols a woman represents the
Church. A true and faithful wife stands for the true
Church ; a false and unfaithful wife represents an
unfaithful church ; and a wife that leaves her husband
for another man is the symbol of a church that turns
away from Christ, its rightful head, and forms an alli-
ance with some State government, and submits to civil
rulers instead of to Christ.

" The true Church is composed of many individuals.
These may be found in organizations with different
names, and having different forms and creeds, or they
may be found in connection with no visible organiza-
tion. Simple connection with Christ by a living faith
is the only condition of membership in this great
family, which is called the ' household of faith.' (Eph.
ii. 19.) These are members of Christ's body (Eph.
V. 30, and 1 Cor, vi. 1.5), and they are one in bim.
These are the component parts of the great spiritual
building that God is fitting up in this life to stand
before the universe as ai> exhibition of the glories of

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re(leni])tion, in the grandeur and magnificence of the
Church triumphant."

*' Why is tliis woman said to be in heaven, if she is
a symbol of the Church, and is not heaven sometimes
a symbol of the same thing ? " asked Truth.

Mr. Deeming answered, " Heaven, as a symbol, may
mean simply an ecclesiastical 'jr<4anization in contrast
with the secular organization of the State which, in
symbol, is called the earth. But when the term heaven
is applied to the true Church that is represented by
the svmbol of the woman, there is a distinction made
between it and the mere ecclesiastical heaven. For
instance, we are told that the stars of heaven fell to
the earth when the sixth seal was opened, and then
it is said that * the heaven departed as a scroll.'

** I understand that heaven, in which the sun was
darkened and from which the stars fell, was the eccle-
siastical organization called the Church, and in which
the woman had her home until the darkening of the
sun and the falling of the stars made it impossible for
lier to remain there any longer. Then the heaven and
its symbol, the woman, departed ; the one fled from
the darkness of a sunless, starless institution, and the
other flees from the dragon, for the sake of her
children."

" Why is this woman said to be clothed with the sun,
and what does that mean ? " asked Truth.

He answered, " I do not know of any more attractive
subject of contemplation than a consecrated and sanc-
tified woman ; I know of nothing that can symbolize
the true Church of Christ as a holy and devoted wife
and mother can. Her love for her husband and her
implicit trust in him for counsel and protection very
strikingly sets forth the love for Christ on the part of
his Church, and its confidence and trust in him for all
needed blessings. And as the true wife is careful of
her husband's honor and interest, so the true Church

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ECCLESIA AND THE DRAGON.

221

is careful of the honor of Christ and the interest of his
cause. And as the mother will do anythiiifr in hor
power for her children, and make any sacrifice for
tlioir conifort and safety, so the Church — the true
Church — will do all that is possible for it to do to save
its members."

" We will now answer your question," said Mr.
Deeming: to Truth. " I have alreadv told vou that
the sun, as a symbol, means divine linjht, or the rays
that come from the Sun of Riii;hteousness ; and as the
light of ti c5 natural sun is composed of different colors,
so this light is made up of different elements, among
which truth and love are predonnnant. Truth to en-
lighten the mind, and love to warm the heart and to
quicken the conscience, so that the whole man may be
said to live and walk in the light.

" To be clothed with the sun means to be so com-
pletely enveloped in this divine light, that the whole
person seems to become radiant with the splendor of
its golden rays. If you can imagine a woman clothed
with burnished gold, and the sun shining on her in all
its brightness, and making of her an object that dazzles
the eyes of the beholders, you may form an idea of
what the woman clothed with the sun would look like
if we could see her as she appeared to the prophet."

" What is meant by the twelve stars upon her
head?" inquired Truth, who had been listening very
attentively to the explanations given.

Mr. Deeming answered, " The Jewish Church was
composed of the twelve sons of Jacob and their de-
scendants ; the Christian Church is composed of the
twelve apostles and their successors.* The Church is

*The successors of tlie apostles are not confined to any
denomination of Christiana, but some of them ire found in all
Christian communities that build u])on Christ as the <,a'eat founda-
tion. And if the Lord should call his people now, there would
be the cream of every Church taken, and there would })e more
or less refuse found in all the Churches.

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said to be built upon the foundation of the apostles
and prophet^, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cor-
ner-stone. (Eph. ii. 20.) This foundation means the
truths and doctrines taught by the apostles and pro-
phets. Stars, as you have already been informed,
mean religious teachers and officers of the Church.
These stars that crown her head represent the twelve
apostles, and she wears them as a crown to show that
she is in no way ashamed of either them or their
teachings, but she glories in their doctrines and pre-
cepts as ' Paul gloried in the cross.' "

" What is to be understood by the moon being under
her feet ? " inquired Truth.

" The moon, as you have been told before, is a sym-
bol of the ordinances of religion in the Church. As the
moon is dark and lustreless in itself, and only shines
by the light of the sun that falls on it, so the ordi-
nances are meaningless until the light of truth falls on
them and reveals their relation to the gospel scheme.
The moon under her feet means, not that she has con-
quered ^^he moon, but that her feet rest upon it for ease
and comfort. Like a foot-sore traveller who takes the
hard sandals from his blistered feet, and washes them
and anoints them with a healing ointment, and rests
them on pillows of down, so the Church finds rest, and
ease, and comfort in the ordinances of religion that
have been appointed by her head.*

" Now," said Mr. I/(H>ming,- enthusiastically, "let us
take a look at the v, oniyr* as she is here described.
Standing upon the mec's). cind in dazzling sunlight,
and wearing a crown of twelve bright shining stars,
the most beautiful woman that ever stood on this old

■**" How often does the weary toiler in the fields of human in-
dustry find sweet, and refreshing, and invigorating rest in the
means of grace and tlie ordii .mces of the Lord's house during
the sacred services of the holy Sabbath-day.

w!tf0immtmimmpim

ECCLESIA AND THE DRAGON.

223

earth since the days of sinless innocence, when mother
Eve walked among the blooming flowers and inhaled
the spice-laden atmosphere of Eden ; ere sin's foul
breath fell upon that en.^hanting scene, like a blighting
■sirocco from the Libyan deserts, sweeping the fresh-
ness and beauty from the face of the first human
sinner, and wasting the odor and fading the bloom of
every flower in paradise."

Then, turning to Ecclesia, Mr. Deeming said, " Can
you recognize yourself in this woman clothed with
the sun ? Do you know that you are the Queen of the
kingdom over which your Lord and head is going to
reign until all of his and your foes shall be subdued,
and peace and righteous shall rule the universe?"

Ecclesin stood wrapped in thought. She did not seem
to hear the words addressed to her ; her eyes were
looking towards some distant object. Those around
her waited for her to answer the questions put to her
by the interpreter ; after some moments of this doubt-
ful silence, she commenced, in a soft, sweet voice, that
was tremulous with emotion, and sang, as if only to
herself :

" Surely I ask for nothing higher,

If I may wear His honored name ;
And I can face the smoke and fire,
When He stands with me in the liame.

" And when the foes are gathering round me,
And nights of darkness hide my way,
While trusting Him naught can confound me,
Until I reach the nightless day.

' ' Then let the beast and dragon chase me
Down through the ages if they will,
My Lord and Master will encase me
In armor that defies their skill.

"And why should I be found complaining
About the burdens 1 must bear.
While he in earth and heaven is reigning
And I, at last, His throne shall share."

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THE GREAT DRAGON.

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Truth said to the interpreter, " We are all very
anxious to hear your explanation of the great red
draf^on that appeared in heaven."

Mr. Deeming answered, " We are now face to face
with one of the most difficult subjects to be found in
this book. Who or what this dragon represents is a
question that perhaps no one but the All wise One can
answer with certainty, but we will do the best we can
with the question."

The drajron itself was a fabled monster of olden
times — its existence is only a myth. But it is some-
times used in Scripture symbols for Satan, and other
enemies of God's people (Isa. xxvii. 1 ; li. 9); and some-
times it refers to persecuting rulers (Jer. li. 34 ; and
Ezek. xxix. 3); sometimes it means desolations, and
ruins, and distractions (Isa. xiii. 22, and xxxiv. 13 ; Jer.
ix. 11, and li. .S7). Different explanations may be
given to this symbol, but I think the most likely and
reasonable one is that the dragon here is a symbol of
Paganism in connection with the civil government.
This dragon is seen in heaven — that is, the Church.
John does not say anything about where it came from,
neither does he notice its existence in anj?- way until he
sees it in the Church, the domain of the woman. But
John does not go outside of the things pertaining to
ecclesiastical matters in his descriptions. And, there-
fore, he does not notice this enemv of the Church until
he finds him actually intruding himself into the sacred
precincts of the woman's home, the organized Church
of Christ. As soon as this is done the prophet notices
him, and portrays his character and his works." * But

* This dragon has been the source of many conjectures among
commentators. Some say it means the Roman empire under

ECCLESIA AVD THE DRAGON.

225

though John only introduces him as making his
appearance as an opposer of God's cause and God's
people so lately, he is really an old enemy, antedating
the history of Rome by many centuries. Hoary with
a^ife as he is, he has not lost any of the vigor of his
earlier years. His time runs back to the time of the
Nimrods of Babylon and the Pharaohs of Egypt. This
same dragon prompted the destruction of the male
children of God's oppressed people in Egypt ; he helped
to kindle the lire in the furnace to burn up the three
young Hebrews, when God refused to let them burn ;
he helped to pitch Daniel to the hungry lions, which
were more merciful than legalized Paganism, for they
refused to eat a good man's flesh, or to crush his bones.
This enemy makes common cause with the red horse
and his rider in flghting against the conquering rider
on the white horse, by persecuting the woman and
killing her children, but still he is an independent
personage, because there may be Paganism where
there is no Imperialism, and there may be Imperialism
where there is no Paganism. We will take it for
granted that the dragon here spoken of is a symbol of
Paganism in alliance with civil or State government,
and the dragon that is the persecutor of the woman in
the present case is Paganism in connection with the
Roman empire."

" What is to be understood by the seven heads and
ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads? " inquired
Ecclfccia.

the Pagan emperors, and others say it represents its entire his-
tory ; and that the divided state of the empire is the horns of
tlie dragon. But it had its ten horns before the Roman empire,
as such, had an existence. Daniel saw it, a beast great and ter-
rible, when the Roman state was under its first form of gov-
orument— the kingly form, its first head. The beast had ten
horns then, though only one head ; therefore the horns are older
than the seventh head, and could not spring out of that.

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Mr. Deeming answered, " The description here given
applies to the Roman empire, through which the
dragon has so completely and perfectly difiused him-
self that he controls and directs its movements. If a
demon dwelt in a man, and we were asked to describe
the demon, we could only do so by describing the man
in whom he dwelt and whose actions he controlled.
The dragon, in this case, uses the Roman empire as
his instrument; but the dragon is only a fabulous
monster, which is supposed to represent certain traits
of character, and to exhibit these through any agent
that may be available for the time being. The Roman
empire is that instrument or agent in the present
case, hence what belongs to the empire is said to
belong to the dragon."

" What do the heads and the horns represent in con-
nection with the empii'e ? " asked Truth.

Mr. Deeming replied, "These seven heads mean
seven forms of government through which the Roman
state will have passed from its beginning till its end-
ing. These may be named in order : kings, consulate,
dictatorship, decemvirate, triumvirate, Pagan emperors,
Christian emperors.*

" Why is there a distinction between the empire
under Pagan emperors and under Christian emperors ?
Was it not the same system under both ? " inquired
Truth.

" No," he answered ; " the form of government was
still Imperial, but the details of the administration of
government were entirely changed. The seat of empire
was changed, and it was moved from Rome to Con-
stantinople ; the State religion was changed in name,
at least, from Pagan to Christian, and such material

* When John wrote the Revelations five of these had fallen
or passed away. One then was, and one had yet to come. (See
Rev. xvii. 9, 10.)

ECCLESIA AND THE DRAGON.

227

changes were made, in all departments of government,
that every province in the empire felt the effects of
them. In fact, the difference between Christian Rome
and Pagan Rome was fully as great as was the differ-
ence between Pagan Rome as an empire, and Rome
as it existed seven centuries before as a kingdom, in
so far as civil society and State government are
concerned."

" There is a question I would like to ask, if I may
do so v'.fchout seeming to be too inquisitive," said
Faith, who always likes to have a good foundation
for what she believes.

" What is your question, my thoughtful friend ? "
said Mr. Deeming.

"How can the dragon represent Paganism in the
Christian empire the same as it did in the Pagan
empire ? Has not Christianity driven Paganism out
of Constantine's government ? How can you settle
this difficulty ? "

The interpreter answered, " This difficulty comes
from a natural misconception of the real facts of the
case. The conversion of Constantine, and his entrance
into the Christian Church, materially affected both
Christianity and Paganism in their relation to the
empire, and in their relation to each other. Before
this Paganism was a part of the established institu-
tions of the empire, and upheld by the powerful influ-
ence of the State. Now it is simply tolerated by the
State, and protected as the religion of <\ very large
portion of the population."

Paganism and Christianity stood in direct opposition
to each other until now. The ten persecutions of the
Christians under the heathen rulers shows how often
this dragon had made his power felt by the Christians,
while his spirit animated both rulers and subjects.
But they are now brought together as they never were
before — one person stands at the head of both. Con-

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CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

stantine carried Paj^anism into the Church, for he
was Pontifex Maxirtiiis ; chief priest of the Pagan
religion as long as he lived, he was the supreme
Pontiff of Paganism an'^' the head of the Christian
Church,* presiding in its councils, deciding its dis-
putes, explaining its laws, and expounding its doc-
trines at the same time that he was conducting the
affairs of the empire, " and standing at the very head
and front of Paganism in the empire."

WHEN AND HOW.

" When did this dragon get into heaven, and how
did he get there ? " inquired Truth.

Mr. Deeming answered, "You already understand
that heaven is often made a symbol for the religious
realm, or the visible Church, in contrast with the earth,
or secular domain of civil government. Now, if the
Emperor had gone into the Church simply as a con-
verted Christian, the same as any other man might
have done, and then if he had exerted himself and
given his influence in favor of Christianity, all would
have been right. But when he went into the Church,
and the office of Supreme Pontiff of the Pagan system
of worship was still held and practised by him. Pagan-
ism, as symbolized by the dragon, went into heaven,
the Church of Christ, and became an intruder into
the domain of the woman.""!-

" How does the dragon draw the stars of heaven by

* Six of his successors on the imperial throne held the same
office, and filled the same double position of head of Paganism
and head of the State Church at the same time.

t The woman, representing genuine Christianity, did what she
could to restrain her leaders and office-bearers from forming
an alliance with this intruder, \fter carrying on an unequal
contest for a little more than a ,.undred years, she flees to the
wilderness, to remain 1,260 years. ,

ECCLESIA AND THE DRAGON.

229

his tail and cast them to the earth ? What does this
mean ? " asked Truth.

" The tail may be the last part or the last end of any-
thing. We speak of the tail end of a thing when we
mean the latest acts of it. The first act here described is
the dragon getting into heaven, the domain of the wo-
man, for the purpose of war. The stars mean religious
teachers. The ministers and teachers of Christianity
were up to this time the helpers of the woman. But
we see the evidence of the power of the dragon when,
by a sweep of his tail, he cast down one-third of these
stars to the earth. This is the same falling of the
stars that we noticed at the opening of the sixth seal.
There we were told that they fell as thick and fast
as blighted figs fall from the tree when it is shaken by
the wind. Then we were told how they fell. Now^
we are told why they fell. They were swept to earth
by a stroke of the dragon's tail. The meaning is, that
ministers of religion are attracted from their sacred
calling to mix themselves up with the offices and
pursuits of secular life and form an alliance with the
State."

" This dragon is said to have ten horns on his heads.
What do those horns mean ? " Ecclesia said.

" These horns may represent the empires and states
over which the dragon ruled, and from which it
received support before it became identified with the
Roman empire. These may be put down as follows :
Egypt, Chal dea, Assyria, Babylonia, Medo-Persia, Greece,
Tyre, Carthage, Troy and Rome. I think these were
the dragon's horns, nine of which he had before Rome
came into into existence. These kingdoms will
embrace the same territory that the empire did in its
palmiest days, and among them they exercised all the
power of the empire that was so long the home of the
dragon. And which he had much to do in keeping
together under one head so long."

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Truth said, " The dragon stood before the woman
. . . to devour her child . . . and her child was caught
up unto God and to his throne. And the woman tied
into the wildernes;^, where God hath prepared a place
for her ; that they should feed her there a thousand
two hundred and sixty days. What does all this
mean ? "

" The child there spoken of," said Mr. Deeming, " is
a representative of the family, where by a figure of
speech a part is taken for the whole. It may apply
to any of those who are born into the kingdom of
heaven, or converted to the true Christian faith and
practice. The object of the dragon is to exterminate
the Church by destroying her children. These are
taken under God's protection, and so are safe. For if
they are persecuted, he sustains them in it. And if
they are made martyrs for the truth, he takes them to
himself, for is it not said by the Lord himself that ' he
that overcometh shall rule the nations with a rod of
iron ? ' (Rev. ii. 27.) And 'to him that overcometh will
I grant to sit with me on my throne.' (Rev. iii. 21.) The
woman does all she can for the good of her children,
and the dragon does all he can against them. The con-
test is going to be a long and bitter one. But God will
take care of the woman and her children, and they
will conquer all their enemies. Or rather the Lord
will do it for them, and they at last shall rule the
world."

"The woman fled to the wilderness," said Truth
again. "Is that a past event or is it still in the
future?"

" That is in the future," replied Mr. Deeming. " The
woman and the dragon are now face to face in heaven,
that is, the religious domain, or in the territory of the
Emperor and his State Church. There are some true
Christians even in the State-made Church, and there
are some of the so-called heretical sects that still retain

ECCLESIA AND THE DRAGON.

231

the ordinances, and much of the true teaching of a
pure Christianity. These are doin<^ all they can to
oppose the dragon, and stay the tide of corruption
that is rolling in upon the Church. But the contest is
an unequal one. With the Jews and Pagans and the
State fifovernrnent in alliance with a Pasranized Chris-
tianity all to ( qpose her, she will have to fight against
great odds. The time has not yet come for the woman
to Hee to the wilderness, hut when that time has come,
she will be notified of it by her Lord ; as was the case
when she fled from the city of Jerusalem."

Ecclesia said to the company, " I feel assured of one
thing, and that is this, he who promised to stand by
ine in all my struggles will not forsake me nor leave
me in the power of his enemies and mine. And right
here I wish to sing :

" Whate'er the coming yearn may bring,
I'll onward go and gladly sing,
The praises of the Lord I love,
Till I shall reach my home above.

' ' Then, with the King of Glory crowned,
While happy millions gather round
To hear the welcome words, 'Come home ! '
No more in desert lands to roam.

' * Then old things will be lost to view.
And all things will be fresh and new ;
And from its ashes earth shall rise
In all the bloom of paradise."

There is a sequel to this chapter found in the seven-
teenth chapter of Revelations, which will be found to
throw some light on this subject, when two other
striking characters appear on the scene along with the
dragon. When we come to that we shall find that
Ecclesia has so many friends and such powerful
helpers, that she will be fully able to carry on the war
against all her enemies, and to drive the dragon out of
heaven and cast him to the earth.

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CHAPTER XVI.

THE TEN-HORNED BEAST.

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MR. DEEMING said to Ecclesia, when again they
met for the purpose of pursuing their inves-
tigations, '* Have you selected anything in particular
for our examination to-day ? "

She answered, " I find here another frightful mon-
ster, more terrible, if possible, than the dragon
himself."

And she began to read, " And I stood upon the sand
of the sea, and I saw a beast rise up out of the sea,
having seven heads and ten horns ; and upon his
horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of
blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like
unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear,
and his mouth as the mouth of a lion ; and the dragon
gave him his power and Ms seat and great authority.
. . And there was given him a mouth speaking great
things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him
to continue forty and two months. And he opened his
mouth in blasphemy against God to blaspheme his
name and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in
heaven. And it was given unto him to make war
with the saints and to ovorc une them; and power was
was given hiuj over all kindreds, and tongues, and
nations."

She stopped reading, and said, " I think the further

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THE TEN-flOUNED BEAST.

233

we go in these prophecies the darker everything looks.
The dragon was bad enough, but here is one that is
worse, for he has all the power oi' the dragon and his
own as well. And this combination of powerful
forces are to be used against me and mine for forty-
two months. What do you make this monster out to
be?"

Mr. Deeming replied, " We have here one of the
most difficult passages in all the sacred books. To
identify and characterize this ten-horned beast is a
task that will require very patient investigation and
very careful comparisons.

" We see that he comes up out of the sea. This
shows that he comes from a state of civil society
flooded by religious errors and superstitions. If he
iiad come out of tlie earth, which means civil society
without any reference to religious conditions, we would
say at once that he symbolizes some ruler or some
system of civil government. But coming, as he does,
from the sea, w^e cannot think that he can represent
any form of state government as such."

Truth here interposed a question, and said, " Per-
haps this beast is the same that Daniel saw, and which
is admitted by all to represent the Roman empire."

Mr. Deeming answered, " Let us investigate this,
and see if the two beasts can be identical ; and if so,
do they symbolize the Roman empire ? Both beasts
come out of the sea, showing that both had the same
origin. But there is one fact that we must not over-
look. When Daniel saw the visions in which four
beasts appeared representing four kingdoms, Rome
was a small kingdom. Daniel saw this great beast
come up from the sea about 537 years before Christ.
The last king of Rome with all his family was banished
before Christ 508 years. And Rome never had another
king in secular matters, and the Romans never acknow-
ledged another king in civil concerns.
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CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

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" The kinj^f, however, had been charged with the
duty of offering certain sacrifices, and tlie name M'as
accordinorly retained in the office of the kin^j for offer-
ing sacrifice. It was enacted that this king whom
tliey considered it their duty to create, that the gods
might not miss their accustomed mediator, sliouhl be
disqualified from any further office, so that this official
was at once the first in rank, arid the least in power of
all the Roman magistrates.*

"We find here that althoufjh the Romans banishel
their king from the arena of politics and all secular
affairs, they still retained l-he office in the religious
realm. And with this they connected the office of a
priest or sort of supreme pontiff in religious matters.
Here we find a connecting link between the Roman
state and Paganism.

" Daniel's beast had ten horns ; but this one has
seven heads as well as ten horns. Daniel's beast was
great and terrible, and different from all that went
before it, and had nothing in common with any of
them. This beast appears with one of his heads
wounded unto death, and would have been compara-
tively harmless had not the dragon given him his
power and seat and great authority. I do not think
that this beast is identical with Daniel's beast."

" What do you think became of Daniel's beast ? "
inquired Truth.

" My opinion is," he replied, " that Daniel's beast is
nothing more nor less than the dragon of John. And
it lepresents the complete system of politico-religious
institutions that runs through the whole period of
the Roman state. Daniel does not attempt to describe
the beast ; for anything that ho says to the contrary, it
might have been a sea monster, or it might have been
some fly^^ng monster of a ferocious kind. He simply
says it was great and terrible."

*McCabe'8 "Illustrated History," p. 331.

THE TEN-HORNED BEAST.

235

3 (;'()(ls

" Where did the dragon get his seven heads, if ho
and Daniel's beast are identical ? " asked Truth.

Mr. Deeming replied, " When Danic^ saw his beast
in the religious realm of the Roman state that state
was under its first form of government, the kings.
That was the first head. But when John saw it the
Roman state was under its seventh head, the imperial
form, so that the same beast that appeared to Daniel
with one head could appear to John with seven heads,
to coTespond with the seven forms of government of
tliG Roman state."

" If this beast that John saw come out of the sea is
not identical with the one that Daniel saw, who or
what do you make him out to be ? " inquired Ecclesia.

Mr. Deeming answered, " What he is you will find
out to your sorrow before you are done with him.
But as to who he is it will take a longer time to
explain. He belongs to the same class with Daniel's
beast ; but he is not that beast. It is remarkable that
all four of the beasts that Daniel saw, as well as this
one, came up out of the sea. They were, so to speak,
amphibious animals. They could live in the sea or
on the land, intimating that they possessed a dual
nature.

" If our interpretation is correct, that the sea as a
symbol, means a state of society under a system of
false or corrupt religious sentiments, then these beasts
coming from the sea shows that they are more closely
identified with the relijxious elements of the nation
than with the secular."

"You think, then, that these beasts are the outcome
of mistaken relicrious sentiments, and erroneous re-
li"[ious teachino- ? " remarked Truth.

' That is correct," said Mr. Deeming. " There can
be no civilization where there is no religious belief
and no sense of moral obligation. A man of no religion
would be a man with no conscience, and a man with

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CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

no conscience would simply be an intellectual animal
with a large percentage of devil in his nature — a
veritable demonized savage, that could not be made to
fraternize with his fellow-men so far as to form civil
society, even in its rudest aspect. Bad as the world is,
it would be infinitely worse only for the religious
elements in human nature.

" These beasts possessing a dual nature, they repre-
sent, in themselves, the two grand factors in human
society — namely, the religious and the secular. The
Babylonian lion, the Persian bear, the Grecian goat, the
Roman dragon, and the ten-horned beast of John, all
represent the duplex politico-religious systems of those
respective countries. All but the last one, he is a sore
of triplicate, as we shall see further on. This beast
cannot be the dragon, for the very good reason that he
comes after him and receives the dragon's power and
seat and great authority."

" How far does the ten-horned beasVs power extend,
and how lonn: will it last ?" asked Truth.

" His power will extend into all countries over which
Daniel's four beasts ruled. This may be inferred by
the description that is given of him. He is like a
leopard, he has the feet of a bear, and the mouth of a
lion, along with the power of the dragon. That is, he
will be like the Babylonian lion for strength, like the
Medo-Persian bear for cruelty, like the Grecian
leopard for activity and fierceness, and like the Roman
dragon for conquering and subduing power.

" And as to the term of his existence, we cannot tell
how long he may live. But the saints of the Most
High are to be given into the hands of Daniel's beast
for a time, times and the dividing of time. That means
one year, two years and a half, which is forty-two
months, which, allowing thirty days to the month, is
just 1,260 days. John says the ten-horned beast is to
blaspheme God and make war with the saints, and

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THE TEN-HORNED BEAST.

237

overcome them, and to have power over all kindreds
and tongues and nations for forty-two months, or
1,2()0 days. And John says that the woman is to
remain in the wilderness 1,260 days. These are pro-
plietic days, each one standing for a year. These
different statements all refer to the same period of
time. What these did before this period began, or what
they may do after it ends, does not concern us just

now.

THE ^EAST IDENTIFIED.

" You told us that this beast is not identical with
Daniel's ten-horned beast. Will you now tell us what
you think he is ?" inquired Ecclesia.

Mr. Deeming said " This ten-horned beast is to be
dealt with in the same way that the others have been.
He does not represent one person or any one locality.
We found that in the horses and their riders, each of
them represented a system."

The white horse and his rider represented our Chris-
tianity against the world. The red horse and his rider
meant Imperialism against Christianity. The black
horse and rider represented Ecclesiasticismor priestcraft
against Christianity. The pale, or roan, horse and his
rider symbolized State-Churchism against it, and the
red dragon was declared to represent Paganism in
alliance with the civil government. Now this fellow
that we are after represents a system the same as the
others.

" He is worse than any one of them. In fact, he is
a compound made up of a mixture of all of them. He
represents in himself Imperialism, priestcraft, and a
Paganized Christianity. He is a sort of triplet, begot-
ten by a union of unholy ambition and greed of gain."

"You think that he represents in himself about all
that was represented by the three horses and their
riders, and the great red dragon. Is that the way you
look at him ? " inquired Truth.

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"The roan, or pale horse, and his rider was the
symbol of a mixture of Imperialism, Ecclesiasticism,
and Christianity, which combination we called State-
Churchisra. This beast is the ally of the red horse and
his rider ; he is the successor of the pale, or roan, horse
and his rider ; and he is the delegate of the great red
dragon, for the dragon gave him his power and his
seat, or throne, and great authority; hence you see
this beast represents a system that is very difficult to
name. The world has never seen anything like it.
The old S5^stems of government, and the antiquated
systems of religion, are all represented in this unique
system of a politico-religious alliance. We will not
name this system otherwise than as John has named
it. We call it the beast, because no other term can
more clearly describe its character.

" We will look at the beast as he rises out of the
sea. This indicates that, like all of his predecessors,
he is amphibious — has a dual nature. He can breathe
in the atmosphere of social and political life, and he
can live in the denser medium of the salt and bitter
waters of religious errors and superstitions ; he can
figure in the courts of the princes, and live in the
hovels of the poor ; he can sit beside the monk in his
lonely cell, or he can be at home in the doubtful pre-
cincts of the convent. This strange character can
abide in any climate and make himself familiar with
any class of people ; his movements will not be
limited by national boundaries, nor can his actions be
restrained by the treaties of diplomacy. His cruelty
can only be checked by danger to his person, and his
ambition can only be restrained by the want of ability
and opportunity to gratify it."

Ecclesia stood by herself listening to these explana-
tions with an intense interest ; the tears would glisten
in her eyes and her cheeks would be red and white by
turns, as faith and fear alternately predominated in

THE TEN-HORNED BEAST.

239

her thoughts and feelings. Her lips and chin would
(juiver, and everything about her appearance indicated
the oreatness of the inward stru^^fjle throuc;!! which
she was passing. Those around her were moved with
sympathy when they witnessed her disturbed state of
mind. Love was moved to weeping, when she saw
the look of her mistress ; even Mr, Deeming stood in
profound silence, as if awe-stricken to stand in the
presence of such intense mental suffering, with no
ability to offer the smallest relief.

The silence that prevailed among the little company
was becoming unbearable, when Ecclesia, in a bold,
confidential tone of voice began, and sang as if she
meant every word she said :

"The beast, the beast, the dreadful beast,
Stands up before me full of wrath ;
From south to north, from west to cast,
His shadow falls across my path,

" Would it be right for one like me,
A weak and timid faith to show ;
And like a coward turn and flee,
To get away from such a foe ?

" I will not do it, though my life

Be called iov now without ^'elay;
Remembering I'm a princo'r fe,
I won't dishonor him to-day.

THAT WOUNDED HEAD.

" The beast is said to have one of his heads wounded
as if it was unto death. Then it seems to have been
healed again," said Truth. " What do you make of
that, can you explain that in any way?"

Mr. Deeming answered, " I do not propose to give
an infallible answer to your question, but I will give
my opinion. This beast came up with seven heads ;
now, these were not his own originally, because it is

240

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

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explained in another place by John that these had a
double meaning, one of which was that they repre-
sented seven kings, or, as we have seen before, seven
forms of government through which the state of Rome
passed from its beginning to its ending. When John
saw these visions five of them had fallen or passed
away, and Rome was under the sixth, which may be
called the Pagan-Imperial. The seventh head was
the Christian-Imperial, inaugurated by Constantine,
when he changed the seat of government and changed
the State religion, and gave a new constitution and a
new code of laws to the empire. This seventh head
was wounded while it was belonging to the dragon,
and it still was wounded when the dragon gave it to
this beast. We are told that the dragon gave to this
beast his seat, or throne, along with his power and
great authority, which he was to exercise in persecut-
ing the woman and her seed, or children, for the space
of forty two months, which is 1,260 days. This cor-
responds with the 1,260 days that the woman spends
in the wilderness, to which she iled from the face of
the dragon. It would seem that the dragon could not
follow the woman to the wilderness but the beast can,
therefore the dragon gives his delegate everything
that can be handed over from one to the other, even
including this wounded head.* He gave the beast his

*John saw these visions A. D. 95 or 97. Paganism then ruled
supreme in the empire. Constantino carried Christianity into
the imperial government and Paganism into tlie Church A.D.
313. The empire was divided between Valerius and Valentinian
AD. 364. It was again united by Theodosius the Great, A.D.
392. The transfer of power from the dragon to the beast was
probably made during this division. (See Historical Chart).

Whether the ten horns of this beast are the sam*^. as the horns
of the dragon or not, is a question that would be hard to settle.
The horns of the dragon existed before the Roman empire
existed, and therefore they could not be a part of it. And if
these horns represent ten kingdoms that sprung up on the down-

THE TEN-HORNED BEAST.

241

prestige, his throne, his power, his persecuting instincts
and, by some sort of magical transformation, he gave
him his heads, including the wounded one.

" Or, I have another way of explaining the case of
the wounded head, that is probably more in harmony
with facts that actually occurred. When Constantine
inaugurated his new regime, and virtually united
I'aganism with Christianity, by posing as the supreme
pontiff of the one, and the bishop of bishops of the
other, thus, in his own person, representing both, he
gave the dragon his seventh head. This head dif-
fered from those that came up before it, in the fact
that it contained a new element, namely, Christianity.
This seventh head remained intact through the rei<2;ns
of six of Constantino's successors. But when Gratian
refused to sustain this dual character, and proclaimed
that he would not be the supreme pontiff of Paganism
any longer, then this head was wounded by taking off
a part of it. Then the head was wounded apparently
unto death ; and in this wounded state the beast
received this head from the dragon,* but when the
beast assumed the control of the State and the State-
made Church, Paganism was restored to a position in
the latter, and through it obtained a place in the
councils of the State. This restoration of Paganism
to a position in the Church and State, is the healing

fall of the empire, as is generally supposed, they must have come
out of the eighth head of Daniel's beast which, it is said, was
this ten-horned beast himself, and, consequently, they could not
be identical with the dragon's horns. But what ten kingdoms
may be symbolized here it would be hard to tell, for the map f
Europe has been so often changed (see Rev. xvii. 10 and follow-
ing verses) that it would be impossible to speak with certainty.

■•' The political division occurred A.D. 3G4. Gratian separated
Paganism from i;hristianity, as a part of the State religion, A.D.
375. Thus, ti^o head was divided politically first, and eleven
years later it was divided religiously. That is probably the
wounding of it that is spoken of by the prophet.

w m

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CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

of the wounded head ; and the whole earth, that
is civil society, wondered after the beast. As in
the case of the pale horse, men failed to understand
his real character at first, but when they learned that
the draofon had transferred his power to this beast
they worshipped the dragon, the symbol of Pag^anism,
and then they turned to the beast sayinc^, ' Who is
like unto him, and who is able to make war with him.'
If the dragon was all-powerful both in the religious
and in the secular realms, who could withstand this
fellow that has all that the dragon had, and along with
that he has all that Christianity can give him. Let it
be understood that in all our future discussions, wh'^n
we speak of this particular beast, we mean always the
system of Paganized Christianity in alliance with
State government — the working out of the idea of
State-Churchism. We mean this, and nothinoj more or
nothing less."

THE BEAST FINDS A RIDER.

Ecclesia said to the interpreter, " In looking at
another place in the roll I find either this same beast
or one like him. But he is under entirely diflferent
circumstances. And I would like very much to know
what you think about him."

Mr. Deeming replied, " You may read to us the
passage you refer to, and we will then see what we
can make of it."

She read on as follows : " And he carried me away
in the spirit into the wilderness ; and I saw a woman
sitting on a scarlet-colored beast, full of the names
of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet,
and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls.
. . . And upon her forehead a name written. Mystery,
Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and of the

THE TEN-HORNED BEAST.

243

ahoTuination of the earth. And I saw the woman
drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the
martyrs of Jesus. . . . And the angel said unto me,
. . . The beast that thou sawest was, and is not, and is
about to come up out of the abyss and to go into per-
dition. . . . The seven heads are seven mountains on
which the woman sitteth ; and there are seven kings ;
five are fallen, one is, and the other is yet to conie ;
and when he cometh he must continue a little while.
. . . And the woman whom thou sawest is that great
city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth."
(Rev. xvii. sundry verses.)

Ecclesia said, when she had finished the reading, " I
remember, that on the day that my Lord left me, he
told me of another woman that would come in course
of time, and supplant me in the estimation of the
world ; and drive me away from her presence, and
claim my place, and do everything in her power to
destroy me and all those who would show me any
friendship. Can it be that this is the one ?"

Mr. Deeming answered, " This is the woman of
whom he spoke, without a doubt. But we will leave
her for a little while, and talk about this beast.

" This is the same beast that we found described in
tlie other place. (Rev, xiii.) There it appeared as the
successor of the dragon. Here he is the servant of
the bad woman that is riding him. In the other place
the beast had a wounded head. Here there is no such
thing seen, T ; tb he was important because of his
relation to the aragon. Here he is prominent because
of hi.s relation to this woman. It is said of the beast
in the o^her place that his seven heads represented
seven kings. The heads of this one represents seven
mountains, on which the woman sitteth ; and they are
seven kings, or, as we have already seen, the seven
forms of government throuirh which the Roman state
passed. Five of these it said are fallen, one is, and the

244

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

other is yet to come. John wrote these words, and
described these visions about A.D. 95, and at that time
five of these had fallen, and the sixth was then present
in the form of the Pagan empire. But before this beast
made his appearance the seventh head, or the Christian
empire, came into existence. This beast is an eighth
head. This beast was, and is not, and is about to come
up out of the abyss, or the bottomless depths, and go
into perdition.

"I understand this to be the beast that was wounded
wheH his seventh head was divided by the stroke of
Gratian, when he refused any longer to represent
Paganism, by retaining the office of chief pontiff of
that idolatrous system. This wound was healed when
the State Church incorporated so much of the old
superstitions of Paganism into the teachings, and rites,
and ceremonies of it, as to make its service almost as
much like the Pagan worship as the Christian, thus
introducing a new thing altogether. But although
the head is healed, the beast will, in the end, go into
perdition, or utter destruction.

" That this inter})retation will hold good, we infer
from what is said about the beast in the two places.
When the deadly wound was healed, we are told that
the whole earth wondered after the beast. And in
this case that they that dwell on the earth shall won-
der at th beast that was, and is not, and yet is — all
whose names are not written in the book of life. I
think the same thing is referred to in both cases."

" Who is the woman that rides upon the beast, and
seems to have such complete control of him ? " inquired
Truth.

" Her character is shown in strong colors," repeated
the interpreter. "The words that John says were
written on her forehead tell what she is. A bad
woman and the mother of bad women, and not only
so, but also of the abominations of the earth. *

h and
; time
•esent
l>ea.sfc
istinn
ighth
come

THE TEN-HORNED BEAST.

245

"A fallen woman in prophetic symbols means a
fallen Church. This woman symbolizes a fallen Church,
and the abominations of the earth, or civil society.
But she is the mother of bad women. She has dau^^h-
ters, and each one of them will represent a fallen
Church. But we shall not inquire after them now ; we
shall probably meet some of them at a future time.

" A fallen woman riding on a beast means a fallen
Church that is upheld and supported by the authority
of the State. Now, we will put these ideas together
and get them in form.

" The beast represents a politico-religious system of
State government, composed of Paganized Christianity
and the authorities that grow out of civil society.
This woman represents a system of Paganism and
Christianity organized into a so-called Church, that
has got complete control of the State, and it has
mounted the State as a rider would mount his horse.
This woman has the umstery of her beast, and she
ouides him and drives him where she will."

" I propose," said Truth, " that we call her Jezebel."

" We will do that," said Mr. Deeming ; " in the
future she shall be known by that name whenever we
meet with her."

HISTORICAL PROOFS AGAIN.

We will again appeal to history for confirmation of
Mr. Deeming's explanations, and we could fill a large
volume with statements on this point; but we can find
time for only a few quotations here. And we will at
the outset propose this question : Does history bear
out the claim that enough of Paganism was carried
into the State-made Church to give it the character
described in these explanations ?

We quote first from " Downing's History of Roman-
ism : '

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CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

" In tracinf^ the origin of the corrupt doctrines and
practices of the Romish Church, we have frequent
occasion in the preceding chapters to allude to the
fact that most of the anti-Scriptural rites and cere-
monies were adopted from the Pagan worship of
Greece, Rome and other heathen nations. The scholar,
familiar as he is with the classic descriptions of
ancient mythology, when he directs his attention to
the ceremonies of papal worship, cannot avoid recog-
nizing their close resemblance if not their absolute
identity. The temples of Jupiter, Venus, and Diana, or
Apollo, their altars smoking with incense, their boj's in
sacred habits, holding the incense box, attending upon
the priests. Their holy water at the entrance of the
temples, with their aspergilla or sprinkling bushes,
their thurobula or vessels of incense, their ever-burn-
ing lamps before the statues of their deities, aie
irresistibly brought before his mind whenever he visits
a Romam Catholic place of worship and witnesses
precisely the same tilings!'

Again, "After the conversion of Constantino, in the
fourth century, when Christianity was taken under
the protection of the State, this sinful conformity to
the practices of Paganism increased to such a degree
that the beauty and simplicity of Christian worship
were almost entirely obscured, and by the time their
corruptions were ripe for the establishment of the
Popedom, Christianity, the Christianity of the State
Church, to judge from the institutions of its public
worship, seemed little else than a system of Paganized
Christianity."

Here is a summing up of a number of instances in
which Pagan rites and ceremonies were transferred
into the State-made Church :

1st, Worshipping toward the east ; 2nd, the burning
of incense ; 3rd, the use of holy water ; 4th, the burn-
ing of wax candles in the day-time ; 5th, the votive

THE TEN-HORNED BEAST.

247

offerinfjfs ; 6th, the adoration of idols or images; 7th,
the gods of the Pantheon turned into popish saints ;
8th, road gods and saints ; 9th, the Pope and the
Pontifex Maximus, and the kissing of the Pope's toe ;
10th, processions of worshippers and self-wliippers;
11th, religious orders of monks and nuns.

Dr. Middleton, from whom this list is taken, con-
tinues as follows : " I could easily carry on this parallel
through many more instances of Pagan and popish
ceremonies, to show from what spring all that super-
stition flows, which we so justly charge them with;
and how vain an attempt it must be to justify by the
principles of Christianity a worship formed upon the
plan and after the very pattern of pure heathenism."
("Hist. Romanism," p. 114 and following pages.)

Mosheim*says, "The barbarous nations who received
the Gospel looked upon the Bishop of Rome as the
successor of their chief Druid, or high-priest ; and as
this tremendous Druid had enjoyed, under the dark-
ness of Paganism, a boundless authority, ... so
the barbarous nations, upon their conversion to Chris-
tianity, thought proper to confer upon the chief of the
bishops the same honors and the same authority that
had formerly been vested in their Aiehdruid."

The Romans had a college of pontiffs, and over these
a sovereign pontiff, . . . whose function it was to
prescribe the ceremonies with which each god was to
be worshipped, compose the rituals, direct the vestals,
and for a good while to perform the business of augury.
. . . And among the Romanists the Pope is styled
the Sovereign Pontiff" (Buck's " Theological Die")

We only give one more quotation, from Rutter's
" Church History." Speaking of the Church in the
fifth century, he says, "The emperors, who, during the
last century had constituted themselves heads of the
Church, and had suffered themselves to be addressed
by the impious titles of ' Your Divinity,' * Your Eter-

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CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

nity/ ' Your Godship,' ' Supreme Master,' ' Everlastinjr
Kinfj,' had still reserved to themselves supreme eccle-
siastical power."

Quotations mijijht bo added to almost any extent
to show that a sufTicitnt amount of Paganism was
carried into the State-made Church to give it the
character of a Paganized Christianity. In fact,
unless we are prepared to ignore the teachings of
history, we must admit that through the corrupting
influence of foreign mixtures, Christianity lost its
vitality to an alarming extent, and that the so-
called Church was little better than a sort of revised
Paganism.

And with the exception of some of the doctrines of
the Gospel that were retained, it might be truly said,
that the faith for which apostles and martyrs shed
their blood was lost in the State Church.

We do not want to be uncharitable or too severe ;
but truth must stand, and facts are such stubborn
things that we cannot unfact them, do what we may.

And is it not a fact, that she who proclaimed herself
to be the only Church, outside of which there could be
no salvation, became an instrument for the persecution
unto death of those who differed from her, rather than
a helper of men in the way to heaven ? And until that
Church chano-es its character and eliminates from its
teachings and practices the elements of Paganism and
heathen superstitions, we can only pity its faithful
adherents and condemn the teachers who are deceiving
them and keeping them in darkness.

CHAPTER XVII.

ECCLKSIA GOES TO THE WILDERNESS.

SHORTLY after their talk about the beast and his
rider, Ecclesia and her friends met again for
conversation and consultation. She looked careworn,
and seemed to be a little dispirited. The discoveries
made to her, in the last two chapters, added to what
she had suffered before, had weighed her down to such
an extent that, to her friends, it became a matter of
considerable uneasiness, since it was becoming quite
evident that she was losing her cheerfulness of mind
and buoyancy of disposition, and they feared that she
might at last give way to melancholy.

Love said to her, " My dear mistress, I am greatly
distressed to see you in so much trouble. Were I as
strong: and couraoreous as our old friend, Mr. Brave-
heart, I feel as though I might do something to help
you stand for your rights against these powerful foes
that are threatening you on every hand. But as it is, I
can only sympathize with you. I wonder where Mr.
Braveheart is. We have not seen him for a long time."

Truth answered, saying, " Mr. Braveheart and an
old friend of his, one Mr. Littlefear, will be with us as
soon as our mistress sends for them. They are both
true and good men, and they can be relied on in any
emergency. They are away in other parts, collecting
information in reference to the movements of our
enemies."

250

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

Faith said, "It is a good thing that our mistress
can find such truthful and learned men as the two
brethren who have been named, to furnish her with
reliable information, not only of the doings of our
enemies, but also of the movements of our friends.
For those who oppose are not contented with misusing
us, but they also misrepresent us and our opinions and
practices."

Mr. Deeming said, " That the Donatists and Nova-
tionists and others had been misrepresented by their
opponents both as ' ) doctrines and practices. The
Donatists broke off from the State Church on a
matter of government. They denied th^ right of the
State authorities to appoint the bishops in the Church.
And the Novationists were driven out of the Church
because they denied that the Church could remit the
sins of those who relapsed into Paganism after they
had been converted. But those people all held the»true
doctrines of the Gospel, and lived Christian lives in
every sense. But they are dealt with as the vilost
heretics by the authorities of the dominant Church."

Hope inquired if they were all right in regard to
the belief in future rewards and punishments, stating
that she had heard that most of the heretics were not
sound on these questions. Faith answered and said,
" These people were very often charged with being in
the wrong when they were in the right. The Church
of the State has recently engrafted into its creed the
doctrine of purgatory, and all who will not accept
this doctrine are set down as heretics by the heads of
the Church. And it is very likely that this story about
the Donatists * and others has originated in that way."

*The Donatists separated themselves from the Catholic
Church before the conversion of Constantine on some difHculty
that arose on the (juestion of the election of bishops. They
stood aloof from State alliance till after Africa was wrested from
the empire by the Vandals,

ECCLESIA GOES TO THE WILDERNESS.

251

While they were enojaged in this conversation they
saw two men approachinf^ them. They noticed the
men walked as though their feet were very sore, and
in other ways they seemed to be fatigued and care-
worn. As they came nearer, the company knew that
one of them was none else than our former acquain-
tance, Mr. Braveheart. When they came up, Ecclesia
was delighted to see her faithful friend and helper
again. In fact, the whole company was pleased, for he
was a general favorite among them. He seemed to be
a little changed in his complexion since last he had
been among them. But that was not to be wondered
at, seeing he had been in Africa the greater part of the
time. He introduced his companion as Mr. Littlefear,
who, he said, had been with him through many hard-
ships and had stood by him in the midst of many
dangers.

Mr. Littlefear was a man in middle life. He was of
medium size. He was a Greek by nation, an Egyp-
tian by education, a Roman citizen by purchase, and a
Christiar. by conversion. He was a man of quick
discernment, of rapid movements, a sharp, bright eye,
and a keen, shrewd intellect. He could see danger at
a distance and provide the best means of averting it.
He was just the man to see through false pretensions
and expose them ; to discover the secret plans and bad
designs of an enemy, and circumvent them. He was
the man to chase a liying rumor to its source, and
find out whether it be true or otherwise. Had he
lived in our day he would have been made chief of
the detectives, and in that capacity he would have
become the terror of scoundrelism everywhere in the
circle of his field of operations.

Ecclesia gave them a warm welcome, as did all of
her companions.

Mr. Braveheart said, in answer to a (|uestion put to
him by Truth, " My friend and I have had some very

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CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

checkered experiences during the last ten or twelve
months. We have been in different countries and
among various races of men. We have seen life in
almost all its aspects and conditions ; and we find the
nations seem to be in a state of unrest almost every-
where."

" What are the conditions of the various branches
of dissenters in the places where you have been ? "
asked Ecclesia. "Are they becoming more in favor
with the dominant party, or are they still persecuted,
as of old ? "

Mr. Littlefear answered this question by saying,
" We are sorry to be the bearers of unwelcome intelli-
gence. But the truth must be told, however unpleasant
it may be. The fact is, we came here at this time to
give information on this subject. There never has
been a day since the Emperor and the bishops formed
the alliance between the Stato and the Church that
things looked so hopeless for thv vjause of the dissenters,
and for unadulterated Christianity, as at the present
time. Everywhere, thinking men are looking for great
changes in the near future that will affect every
interest of society. And it seems as though the
empire itself is like a ship that is in the breakers,
and being driven on the rocks "

Ecclesia said, " Can you tell if any changes are
taking place among the Novationists and Donatists ?
Are they holding out, and keeping up their regular
meetings, and administering the ordinances as has been
their custom ?"

Mr. Braveheart replied, " The Novationists are
almost blotted out of existence. Their churches are
all destroyed or taken from them, and they are for-
bidden to assemble for any religious purposes what-
ever. As an organization, they can hardly be said to
exist.

"And as to the Donatists, they have been taken

ECCLESIA GOES TO THE WILDERNESS.

253

under the protection of the Vandals, who have wrested
the Province of Africa frotn the empire, and set up an
independent government. The Donatists have formed
an alliance with the State, and is now a State-guided
and persecuting Church, and is doing to the Catholics
what they have done to many others." *

" That is sad intelligence, indeed," said Ecclesia.
" Do you know of any Christian organization any-
where that is left free to worship God outside of the
State churches ? Can you tell of one place in the
world where my friends can enjoy the rights of con-
science to worship their God and Sp' our without
breaking human laws enacted specially against them?"

Mr. Braveheart replied, "There is no such place
that I know of. I know, as a fact, that on this broad
earth there is not a single country or city where peo-
ple can meet and hold religious meetings, and admin-
ister the ordinances of the Lord's appointing, without
incurring pains and penalties, unless they are connected
with the State Church. Rome has determined that
there shall be but one Church, and wherever the
empire extends its authority it upholds and enforces
that determination."

Mr. Deeming said to Ecclesia, " Will vou read to us
what is said about the woman fleeing to the wilderness
from the face of the dragon ? "

She commenced and read, " And the woman fled into
the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God,
that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred
and threescore days. And there was war in heaven.

* This was about the year A.D. 428, and 115 years after the
alUance between the Catholic Church and imperial Rome. The
Donatists constituted tlie largest and most powerful, and most
orthodox branch of the dissenting churches, and when they
became a State Church, and began the work of persecution,
pure, unadulterated Christianity was left without an organiza-
tion, and the woman went to the wilderness to remain there
1,2G0 days.

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CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and
the dragon and his angels fought and prevailed not,
neither was their place found any more in heaven. .
And so the woman was given two wings of a
great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness into
her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times,
and half a time from the face of the serpent."

Mr. Braveheart said, when she stopped reading, " I
think that this war will be a hard one. The old enemy,
the serpent, and his associate, the dragon, together with
his delegate, the beast, form a trio of fearful force and
of diabolical activity. But who is Michael that, with
liis angels, fights against the dragon and drives him
out of heaven ? "

Mr. Deeming replied, " In answering this question,
I must repeat what has been said before iu regard to
heaven as a symbol. It means the Church or an
ecclesiastical organization called the Church.

" Under the Pagan emperors, the war that was waged
against the Church was carried on by outside foes.
There were no traitors in the citadel ; but when Pagan-
ism, in alliance with the empire, got into the Church,
then the opp.,.-;i!ig forces met face to face in what had
hitherto been a sacred enclosure for divinely appointed
services. Here was the domain or home of the woman.
This was her home, and against this intrusion she pro-
tested and struggled.

" And this unequal contest was carried on for a while,
until she found herself unable to defend herself against
her foes. Then she came out of the State Church,
and found a temporary home among the dissenting
churches.

" Then Michael, which means arch, or chief angel,*

* He is spoken of by Daniel (x. and xi.) as one of the chief
princes, and in xi. 1 he is called the great prince ; and in
Jude, verse 9, he is called the archangel.

fiCCLESIA GOES TO THE WILDERNESS.

255

appears on the scene to take the woman's part. When
the dragon found that the woman had so powerful an
ally, and that she had withdravy^n from the domain
th't has been polluted by his foul presence, he was
full of wrath, and he sent a flood of false accusations
and false doctrines out of his mouth after her to try
and drown her; but the earth (civil society) opened its
mouth and swallowed up the flood before it reached
the woman. So the earth helped the woman. The war
now assuuied a new aspect. Before, it was between
Christianity pure and simple, on the one hand, and
Paganism pure and simple, on the other hand. Now,
however, the tight is to be between pure, unadulterated
Christianity, on the one side, and on the other side, a
Paganized Christianity in alliance with the State."

THE BASE OF OPERATIONS CHANGED.

" When the dragon saw that the woman had left the
State Church and gone into less conspicuous places, and
that she had left the lines of Christianity versus
Paganism, and had retreated to the smaller organiza-
tions, where he could not follow her, he found that he
must have some other aojent or instrument to do his
work. As Michael was to fight him in the domain of
State-Churchism, he must find some way of following
the woman into her retreat, and attacking her there.

" Then he gave the beast his seat, or throne, and his
power and great authority, so that he might hunt the
woman from place to place during the long period of
forty-two months."

Mr. Braveheart here spoke, and said, " Will this war
be going on between the dragon and his angels and
Michael and his angels while the woman is in the
wilderness ? And if so, what will the conflict be about
after the woman has gone into the wilderness ? "

" When the drajion drives the woman from the

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CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

domain of the Church he not only deprives her of the
ri(]fhts of conscience, but he also takes from her the
rights of citizenship. She loses at once her religious
liberty and her civil rights, so that when the State
Church will condemn her as a heretic, the civil authori-
ties will punish her as a criminal. That will be her
condition during the time she remains in the wilder-
ness."

Mr. Littlefear here inquired, " If she is thus entirely
disfranchised, why follow her any further ? Why is
the beast sent out to hunt her down as if she were
some terrible monster ? "

Mr. Deeming answered, '■ The reason is found in the
fact that her enemies wish to exterminate her from
the world, so that her truthful teachin^^ and exem-
plary life may not be a standing protest and reproof
against the wicked and corrupt State-made Church."

Truth now wanted to know if the woman that they
saw on the beast, as his rider, would in any way be
mixed up in this strife. " Could she forget that the
woman that the beast was after was her sister, and
that she owed to her the kind sympathy that nature
prompts one woman to show another in sore trouble ? "

Mr. Deeming replied, " You mean Jezebel, I suppose.
As for her, she will hate with a more bitter and unre-
lenting hatred than either the dragon or the beast is
capable oi.* The hatred of such an one as she is more
cruel than the grave, and unrelenting as the pit of
woe. And she will be the leading spirit in the work
of persecution. The war between Michael and the
dragon is about the woman's right to regain her place

*I believe that this woman symbolizes the Latin Church.
The beast himself represents a system in which a Paganized
Christianity is in alliance with the civil power. This woman
wlio rides him is a symbol of the most fallen and polluted State
Church that ever had an existence. She makes the system serve
and obey her, as a horse does his rider.

ECCLESIA GOES TO THE WILDERNESS.

257

in the religious realm. The dragon saying she never
shall, and Michael defending her rights, even in her
absence, and also he protects her in the wilderness
from the beast and his rider, so far that she is not
entirely crushed out of existence."

Truth said to the interpreter, " What are we to
understand by the wilderness into which the woman
is said to flee ? Is it a literal or symbolical one ? Will
slie go to the wild forests of Germania, or into the
African deserts ? "

Mr. Deeming replied, " The wilderness into which
she goes is an ideal or figurative one. A person in a
wild, uninhabited locality is deprived of civil, social
and religious privileges, and is subjected to many
deprivations and hardships. This is to be the con-
dition of the woman. She will be deprived of her
civil, social and religious rights and privileges. It
means a state of disorsanization and distress in regard
to Church privileges — where there are no regular
religious services performed, and no administration of
the ordinances permitted ; all outside of the estab-
lished Churches being legally disqualified to perform
the rites and enjoy the privileges of Christians and
citizens. And, besides this, they will be compelled to
sustain the established Churches, or else be the sub-
jects of persecution by fire and sword. And in this
disorganized condition every one of the rights of
humanity will be taken from Ecclesia and her friends.
Civil, social, domestic and religious rights will all be
disregarded by Jezebel and her assistants, while fight-
ing against the Church in the wilderness, during all
these dark and gloomy twelve hundred and sixty days,
or forty- two months."

Ecclesia inquired of the interpreter if there is any
way by which it could be definitely known when that
time commenced.

Mr. Deeming answered, " Daniel commences the

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CLOTHED WITH THE SUJf.

1,290 days of which he speaks at the time of the
taking away of the daily sacrifice and setting up of
the abomination that maketh desolate. This very
likely includes the 1 200 days of John, and though it
will terminate later, yet the two dates start together.

"Jesus tells his people that when they shall see the
abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the
prophet, stand in the holy place, then they are to
flee to the mountains. (Matt. xxiv. 15.) Luke, speak-
ing of the same discourse of the Lord, says, 'When
you see Jerusalem encompassed with armies, then you
know that the end thereof is nigh. (Luke xxi. 20.)
The disciples had a.sked a mixed question, and Jesus
gives his answer in accordance with their question.
They wanted to know when would be the destruction
of the temple and city, and what would be the sign of
his coming, and of the end of the world. That part
of his answer that refers to Jerusalem seems to have
a double meaning. One speaks of the Jewish city ;
the other refers to the Christian Church. Luke speaks
of one of the meanings and Matthew of the other.
The Roman army that destroyed the city that God
had abandoned to its fate, is not the same as the
abomination of desolation standing in the holy place,
as Matthew puts it ; or standing where it ought not,
as Mark has it. (Mark xiii. 14.)

" After our Lord turned from Jerusalem, and said,
'Your house, or temple, is left unto you desolate;'
' Your temple and its worship is God-forsaken now,'
is what I understand him to mean. After this, the
temple, or the city, is nowhere called the holy place,
by the Lord.

" The holy place means something that belongs to
the Church of Christ, and something that had an
existence after the city and temple were destroyed,
and it means something that was symbolized by the
holj'' place in the temple. What else can it be than

ECCLESIA GOES TO THE WILDERNESS.

259

the place where pure and acceptable worship is offered
to God, in his own appointed way ? Where from
.sincere, loving hearts daily sacrifices of praise and
prayer are offered upon the altar that is sprinkled by
the atonin<^ blood of the Son of God. This is the
daily sacriticc that Daniel said would be taken away,
and from which he commences his 1,290 da)^s."

Truth asked, " What are we to understand by the
abomination of desolation standing in the holy place,
and standing where it ought not ?"

Mr. Deeming replied, " It was not the Roman army
aiound Jerusalem, for they were just where God had
arranged that they should be, for the accomplishment
of his purposes. And if they were where God wanted
tliem, for the punishment of the rebellious nation, it
could not be said of them that they were where they
ought not to be, nor that they were in the holy place.

"The al)omination that maketh desolate is very
probably the same thing that is symbolized by
Daniel's beast, that he said was great and terrible.
That is, as we have seen. Paganism in alliance with the
civil government of the Roman State. He got into
the holy place, and is now standing where he ought
not to stand, in the Church. He got there when the
office of the Pontifex Maximus, or chief Pope of the
Pagan world, was carried into the Church, with Con-
stantine. Then the desolation of the Church of Christ
commenced, and it is carrying on its work of desola-
tion now, and it will continue to do so until finally
excluded through the prince of the angels, Michael,
who I think, is none other than the Lord himself.

" When the dragon got into the Church (Catholic),
then the true Church, symbolized by the woman
clothed with the sun, left it and retired to more
obscure places, among tlie orthodox dissenters, and the
daily sacrifice of prayer and praise, and the adminis-
tration of Christian ordinances continued. But now,

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CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

they are taken away by being prohibited everywhere
by the laws ot' all countries where they are known."

Ecclesia said, " You think, then, that the time has
come when I must go into the wilderness, there to
remain until Michael prepares the way for me to
return ? "

Mr. Deeming, though a strong man, was visibly
affected as he answered her question, by sayinjr, '' Your
places of worship are ail confiscated or destroyed, and
thus your temple has been closed by the hand of the
State. Your assemblies and religious services are
suppressed everywdiere. Your friends are being per-
secuted and hunted and slaughtered by Jezebel, and
her beast, and the dragon. There is not a place any-
where that you can gather a congregation for the
worship of God, without violating some civil or church
law. Sad as the thought may be, there seems to be
nothing left for you but to choose between going to
the wilderness, or into the State-made Church."

She stood listening with an intensity of interest
that seemed to absorb all her thoughts and feelings,
until Mr. Deeming stopped speaking. Then she
straightened herself up, and to those around her she
seemed to have grown taller and stronger than she
had ever been before, while with a determined look
and an unwavering voice, she said :

" I will never go into the State Church ; it would be
treachery to my Lord. Let me take to the wilder-
ness. I remember I came out of Jerusalem with a
song. I never was in Babylon, so that I cannot come
out of it. But I will turn from it with a song, and I
want you all to help me sing it,"

" Don't talk to me of stately towers,

And lofty spires and spacious domes ;

Of dignity and kingly powers,

And palaces and princely homes. ^

I much prefer a lowly cot

In some blest land, where sin is not.

JP*-««s..

ECCLESIA GOES TO THE WILDERNESS.

261

" Don't tell nie of your gardens f.iir,

And orchards bending down with fruit ;
Of flowers with odors rich and rare,
And beauteous objects of pursuit.
I'd rather have a little spot
In some blest land, where sin is not.

" But I would fain be left alone

To do the work He left with me,

Just in the way He wants it done ;
And then go home His face to see.

But I could bear a hermit's lot

In any land, where sin is not.

" Then to the wilderness I'll go,

Dismissing all my needless fears —

Facing wild beasts, and robbers, too,

Through all these long and lonesome years;

For I can bear the hardest lot

In any land, where sin is not.

' ' Ye need not tell me I shall fail ;

Because 1 know and trust His word
Which says, the truth shall yet prevail

And spread the knowledge of my Lord;
Meanwhile I bear with any lot.
And seek a land where sin is not."

iii

IN SECLUSION.

In a lonely valley, away from the city and out of
hearing of the noise, and out of sight of the hurry and
bustle of city life, and where the setting sun painted
the long shadows of the tall trees upon the face of the
limestone rocks that rose like a protecting wall on the
eastern side of the vale, Ecclesia and her friends had
gathered for a season of communion with God, and
with each other.

As they stood at the roots of one of the giants of
the forest, Ecclesia addressed them, saying, "Here
is a temple that the State has not yet shut up against
us. And our Father in heaven will hear our prayers,

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CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

and songs of praises going up to him, from under the
leafy canopy over our heads to-night, Just as readily
as he would from the domed ceiling of the finest
structure that the art of man ever built. And these
trees, pointing to the star-lit skies, nre just as good to
bear our songs aloft as the tallest steeples could be. I
am thankful that we have this place left to us, and I
hope we shall be content with this till a more attrac-
tive place can be secured. There is one comfort, at all
events, there is no Paganism here."*

Mr. Deeming said, " You may prepare yourself for
a lon^ period of this kind of life. Sometimes things
may be a little better ; but often they will be a great
deal worse ; for, if I am not entirely mistaken, this
will last through the whole of the trumpet period,
which will be a long time."

*This part of the divine programme is in Rev. xii., and the
circumstances of the woman in the wilderness is given after the
events occurred, and in connection with the sounding of the
seventh trumpet. That is the time that she came out of the
wilderness. But that the reader may better understand tlie
order in which the events in her life in the wilderness occurred,
I have thought it best to introduce the subject here, and to
follow her through the trials and struggles through her 1,260
years of conflict.

CHAPTER XVIII.

SOUNDING THE ALAllM.

ECCLESIA met her friends one morning in such a
pitiful plight that they all cried out in alarm
at her appearance. She was bleeding from many
wounds. Her hands were torn, her face was bruised,
and blood was issuing from a number of cuts and
scratches. Her hair was dishevelled and stiffened with
mud, and her clothing was badly torn and hanging in
shreds about her person. Her eyes were red with
weeping, her feet were sore and blistered, and every-
thing about her seemed to point to some fearful conflict
recently passed through.

They stood around her in mute astonishment ; every-
one appeared to be struck dumb by the touching sight.

Love was the first to break the silence. Weeping
and sobbing as though her heart was breaking, she
threw her arms around Ecclesia's neck, saying, " My
dear mistress, who has done this ? Who could be so
cruel as to treat like this one who is good, and kind,
and true ? What demon have you met with, my dear,
good mistress ; pray, tell us ?

She answered, saying, " That woman and her beast
has done it."

" Do you mean Jezebel ? " asked Truth.

" Yes, Jezebel and her dreadful ten-horned beast,"

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264

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

she replied. " I met thein, and when Jezebel saw me,
she said, ' I have found you for once without your
body-guard, my sanctimonious lady, and it shall not
be my fault if you ever see again those friends of
yours who stick to you like your shadow. You think
yourself to be so much better than your equals, but
you will soon learn that I am more than a match for
you.' Then she directed her beast to run over me and
trample me into the ground. I ran away from him ; but
he overtook me and caujxht me on his horns and tossed
me about on them for awhile, and then threw me on
the ground. Then Jezebel told him to jump on me
with all his weight, and to finish me at once. I thoun;ht
my time had come. But just as the beast was about
to place his two great front feet upon me I seemed to
feel an arm thrown around me, and I was lifted to my
feet. At the same time, I distinctly saw a hand catch
the beast by one of his horns and it held him still, so
that I got away."

" You have had a narrow escape, dear lady," said the
interpreter.

Truth remarked that Ecclesia wou^d need to be
careful, to keep as near as possible to the directions
that had been given her, and not to expose herself
needlessly.

Faith said, " Paul fought with beasts at Ephesus,
and he conquered in the end, and our mistress will do
the same."

Hope pointed upward, and .said, " Let not your heart
be troubled, neither let it be afraid, for above the
storm-clouds of this world there are many mansions,
bright and fair, awaiting you and all your friends."

Ecclesia listened to them attentively until they
ceased speaking, then she gave vent to her feelings as
follows :

SOUNDING THE ALARM. 265

" When torn and tortured by my foes,
I greatly need some sweet rej)ose ;
Js there no spot Avhere 1 may tind
A place of rest for heart ind mind i
Nowhere beneath the circlhig sun
To which for safety I can run ?
Yes ! where my Lord has pledged to meet me,
And kindly angels ofttimes greet me.
Yes ; in the place of praise and prayer
My heart rtnds rest and comfort there."

Mr. Deeming said to Ecelesia, " When you are ready
to go on with our studies I am ; and it' it meets your
views, we will turn back now to where we were before
we commenced to talk about the dragon and the ten-
liorned beast of the sea."

" I am ready," she replied, " and it will be a relief to
me to have somethino- to think about that will divert
my mind from the gloomy thoughts and experiences
of the last few hours." She read as follows :

"And the second ano^el sounded, and as it were a
great mountain burnino- with fire was cast into the
sea. And the third part of the sea became blood, and
there died a third part of the creatures which were in
the sea, even they that had life ; and the third part
of the ships were destroyed." Turning to the inter-
preter, she said, " Can you tell what is the meaning of
this ? "

Mr. Deeming replied, " A mountain means an
organization composed of secular elements, for the
purposes of government, and for anything else that
may be deemed necessary. In its primary meaning
as a symbol, it is an organized government, whether it
be a kingdom, an empire, or a republic. And I have
told you that fire is a symbol of divine presence, either
for purposes of protection, mercy, or judgment, as the
case lufiy be. The sea means civil society flooded with
religious errors and superstitions. A burning moun-
tain thrown into the sea means that some foreijirn
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266

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

power or oroanizabion is put where it was not before,
and also that it is put where tlie peoples are under a
false, or a greatly corrupted system of religion ; and
the fire shows that the divine presence is there for
some purpose, to execute God's orders. The mountain
is not destroyed by being cast into the sea, but the
sea is greatly aftected, so much so that one-third of the
life that was in the sea was destroyed. Salt and bitter
sea water is bad enough, but when it becomes blood it
is much worse to drink. And a third part of the ships
were destroyed ; the meaning is that some foreign ele-
ment is thrown into human society that will be very
destructive to life, to r'digion, and to commerce. In
the first trumpet we found hail and fire mingled with
blood, which was cast upon the earth ; or, as we have
seen, civil society. That affected State government.
This one brings blood and fire, and destruction to the
sea, or Ecclesiastical government."

HISTORICAL SUPPORT.

The e\ ents symbolized by this trumpet very prob-
ably took place early in the seventh centurj^ and
there can be but little doubt that it foreshadows the
rise and ravages of Mohammedanism. This trumpet
affected the Eastern empire in tlie same way that the
first one did the Western empire, although not quite
to the same extent.

Mohammed commenced his career a few years after
the Pope assumeil and was granted tlie rights of tem-
poral power, and shortly after the Pagan Pantheon
at Romo was dedicated as a Christian Church. He
claimed that God had commissioned him to restore
the ancient religion, and bring man back to the
religion of Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and
all the prophets, by destroying the gross idolatry into
which a majority of his countrymen had fallen ; and

SOUNDING THE ALARM.

2G7

weeding out the corruptions and su})crstitions which
the Jews and Cliristians had introihiced into their
rt'ligion, and bringing them back to the purity and
simplicity of former times, when they worshipped
only one God.

The religion of Mohammed was propagated by the
sword, and has never been rect-ived into any country
except those which its votaries overcame by force of
jirins. The system crystallized into a sort of civil
n()vernment resting on military strength, whose main
object seems to have been the extension of tlieir reli-
gious dogmas, and the gratitication of sensual lusts.

The Mohammedans were like their kinsmen of old —
their hand w^as against every man — Pagan, Jew, or
Christian, was all the same to them. They have not
clianged in this even to our day. Tliey are not idola-
ters, they are not eonnectpd with Paganism, they are
not Jews, they are not Christians, afid they have made
a stand against all (if these for moi e than l,2r)0 years ;
and the eti'ects of this system will continue under the
i)atu(^ of the false prophet until, witli the dragon and
the beast, he shall fall under the seventh vial at the
great battle of ArmagcHldon.

Mohannnedanisui is an amalo-amation of the reli-
gious and secular elements of goveinment and, there-
fore, it is a species of State-Chuschisni, and hence it
works on the same line with the rider on the pale,
or roan, horse, and is the foe of the woman clothed
with the sun .

Mohannned says in the Koran that " Jesu;- Christ was
a prophet, and that we muso seek forgiveness of sins
through him : and that he is a king and a lawgiver.
Put with s^^range inconsistency he denies that any
atonement was made by Christ; and declares that he
himself was a greater prophet and better (]ualitied for
the exercise of government as a king." (Robertson of
Kilmaur.)

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This trumpet brought disaster to the true Church.
Mohammedanism is a persecuting system. And, as such,
it is an ally of the dragon and the ten-horned beast in
resisting and destroying the pure Christianity as it is
set forth in the Gospel. We have room here for one
or two instances of their intolerance.

'■ In Jerusalem the Mohammedan con([uerors treated
the professed friends of Jesus with inhuman cruelty.
In Ca3sarea they massacred seven thousand Christians
in one church. About the year 700 they slew in
Isauria one hundred and fifty thousand Christians and
reserved seven thousand captives for slaves. . . . For
all the cruelties which Homer, the Mohammedan
prince, inflicted on the Christians lie apologized by
saying that he was only destroying idolatry and pun-
ishing the worshippers of images. In the rage and
cruelty of the Saracens v/e may see the righteous
judgments of God on backsliding and degenerate Chris-
tians. . . . The men who called themselves Christians
were idolaters, and the Saracen empire was the rod
of divine justice to correct them for their iniquity.
Falling; among men of this descrintion, the great
liaming mountain of the Mohammedan empire is with
great propriety and justice said feo be cast into the
sea." (Robertson.)

That is, it was thrown into civil society, flooded
with impure, false and idolatrous religious teachings.
And though it set the sea boiling, it made no change
for the better. And it turned the sea into blood, by
infusing into its vraters an element of animalism and
brutality that was not in it before.

ANOTHER TRUMPET.

Ecclesia and her friends continued their conversa-
tions on the readings found in the Patmos roll. Mr.
Deeming asked her to read seme more, which she did
as follows :

SOUNDING THE ALARM.

269

Ian

" And the third ano-el sounded, and there fell a cfreat
star from heaven, burnincf as it were a lamp, and it
fell upon the third part of the rivers and fountains of
water. And the name of the star was called worm-
wood : and the third part of the waters became worm-
wood ; and many men died of the waters, because they
were made bitter."

" What does this falling star represent, and why was
it called wormwood ? " a.sked Ecclesia, when she ceased
reading.

The interpreter answered, " According" to our mode
of interpretation, a star must be some ecclesiastical
character. Some person whose sphere of operation
has been in the relicfious realm. Some one who has to
do with sacred things ; in a word it must be a minister
of religion, a teacher of the people in the things that
are connected with their spiritual interests.

" Such a thing as political heavens and political stars,
are found only in the vain imaginings of men whose
peculiarities have handcuffed their judgment, making
them seek for interpretations that will tit in with their
sectarian notions or political leanings.

" A falling star symbolizes some minister or ecclesi-
astic that falls from the (Jhurch or religious realm, to
the earth or secular realm. I think that, in this case,
it represents some one that is high up in the State
Church tailing from his position, as a religious teacher
and leader of the people's devotions, to become a
political leader or a secular ruler. If the Pope of
Rome should become a temporal ruler it would fulfil
all the conditions involved in this falling star. And I
am of the opinion that, that is what is meant by this
symbolic description."

Ecclesia inrjuired, " What does making the waters
bitter mean, and why is only one-third part of them
affected ? "

Mr. Deeming answered, " In the time of Constan-

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CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

tine, the Bishop of Rome, alons^ with others, fell from
their place in the Church of Jesus Christ to a position
in the State-made Church. But they fell to the earth,
or civil society, when they met with the Emperor and
others on the secular plain, and or(,^'lnized the new
Church, and established the system of State-Churchism.
And though Paganism was allowed to take its place
in the new Church, and though its practices are very
much corrupted and its precepts seriously vitiated,
still its doctrines were not materiall}^ affected by these
falling stars.

" But this star falls on the rivers and fountains of
waters and makes them bitter. That is, it injuriously
affects the doctrines of religion, on which the salvation
of men so much depends. The truth that makes men
free is eliminated fi'om the teachings of the Church,
and for it is substituted dogmas that befog the intel-
lects and enslave the consciences of men ; hence we
are told many men died, that is, they fell from the
enjoyment of spiritual life by drinking the bitter
waters.

" One-third of the Avaters were made bitter. This
may be explained in two ways. Christianity, Moham-
medanism and Pafjanism, at this time, divide the
religious teachings of the world. Now, the falling of
this star affected none of these but the latter; or, it
may be taken in another way, and which, 1 think, is
the correct one.

" The falling of the Bisliop of Rome does not affect
the teachings of the Eastern or Greek Church, and
it does not affect the teachings of the true Church, or
the woman clothed with the sun ; but it does affect the
teachinof of the Latin or Western Church. One-third
here does not refer to numbers, but it simply means
one of the three divisions into which Christian teach-
ing is divided at present."

" I am very thankful," said Truth, " that the true

SOUNDING THE ALARM.

271

Gospel ot* the kingdom is not. subject to the changeful-
ness of men's caprices, nor does it need to be sustained
by legal enactments of State laws."

Mr. Deeming said, "Already three important dog-
mas have crept into the teachings of the Latin Church.
The doctrine of purgatory, the worship of images, and
the adoration of saints. These are all fictions, but the
people accept them as truth. And the anathemas of
the Church are hurle<l against any one who expresses
a doubt about the propriety of trusting in any of
them."

Ecclesia said to Mr. Deeming, "I hope all of my
enemies are discovered and named V>y this time.
Surely there are no more to be revealed. Can you
give us an inventory of thein as they have appeared
one after the other ? "

He replied, " Yes, I think so. The red horse and
rider, representing Imperialism ; the black horse and
rider, representing Ecclesiasticism ; the pale, or roan,
horse and his rider, representing State-Churchism ; the
red dragon, representing Paganism in alliance with
tlie State ; then his ally and delegate, the ten-horned
beast.* Then his rider, Jezebel, representing the
Latin Church ; then the burning mountain, represent-
ing Mohammed and his system ; and last, tlie failing
star, representing the Church controlling the State
— a sort of Church-Statism. The Pope will control
his temporal dominions by the help of Jezebel and her
beast. These are the foes that are in the tield against
ynu. Later on you will find another little beast that
will give you trouble, but it will be time enough to
talk about him when he comes on the scene."

" I expect trouble so long as I have to remain in the
wilderness," Ecclesia answered.

"Yes," said Truth, "you wall have trouble all

* Paganized Christianity in alliance with the State.

272

CLOTHED WITH THE StlN.

through those dreary years, but in the end your foes
shall all be subdued ; for the mouth of the Lord hath
spoken it."

Hope said, " Darkness may last for a season, but the
lij^ht shall surely come and chase it away. And
thoui^h weeping may endure for a night, yet joy
Cometh in the morning. There is no cloud so thick
that above it the sun is not shining; and there is no
night so long or so dark but that the dawn of the
morning will chase its shadows to the land of forget-
fulness."

" Will this new enemy be as relentless and as cruel
as the others have been ? " asked Ecclesia, with
earnestness.

Mr. Deeming replied, " Yes, this new system of civil
government, with the Pope of Rome as its head, will be
more completely under the control of bigotry and
intolerance than even Paganism itself. The Papal
States, as this new government will be called, will be
the most servile instrument in the hands of Jezebel
that she has ever had or can have. In fact, by using
the Pope's temporal power for a fulcrum, and the
Church's spiritual tyranny as lever, she will overthrow
thrones and kingdoms as remorselessly as a peevish
boy scatters his playthings when he is out of tempar."

WHAT SAYS HISTORY ?

The Church of Rome claimed supremacy over all
other Churches from the time of Constantino ; and
although it had powerful rivals, it managed to main-
tain a controlling influence among the other Churches
until the downfall of the Western empire. After it
lost the support of the Emperors of the West, it found
itself beset with difficulties arising out of the unsettled
state of European politics. The Goths and Vandals,
who overthrew the empire, were a rude, uncultured

SOUNDING THE ALARM.

273

people, and they were hard to control at the fii'st. The
Eastern emperors seetn to have been friendly to the
Western Church ; but its powerful rival at Constanti-
nople stood in the way, so that they were held back
from doing what, under other circumstances, they
niin^ht have done to further the designs of the bishops
of Rome. But for three centuries the Pope continued
to oain influence among the Gotliic kingdoms, until, at
lonofth, his mediation was sou^'ht in the settlement of
disputes among the different countries, and his advice
was listened to by the most powerful potentates of the
times.

Always on the watch for opportunities to advance
the interests of the See of Rome, he at length found
himself ruler of the Papal States by the favor of the
King of France. Pepin conferred on him the duke-
dom of Rome, and gave him the exarchate of Ravenna,
A.D. 754. In 774 the son of Pepin, Charlemagne,
overturned the kingdom of the Lombards and gave
part of their territory to the Pope. Thus the Papal
States found a place on the map of Europe.

In the language of the world, the Pope rose to the
dignity of a king ; but in the language of Scripture,
he fell, like a star from heaven, into the low position
of a time-serving apostate, and the effects of this fall
gives liistory some of its darkest pages, both as to the
Church and to the State.

Robertson says " In the Church, superstition and
idolatry prevailed to such a degree that ignorant men,
thouo-h calling themselves Christians, were bowincr
down to molten images and graven images. And there
was not in the Catholic Church any place of public
worship unpolluted by these objects of idolatry.
What was called Christian worship, now abounded in
splendid images and imposing ceremonies, processions
of clergy and clouds of incense. The heathen idols
themselves were in a sense admitted into the pretended

ilt

IllRi

274

CLOTHED WITEI THE SUN.

II.

Church of Christ. The same imajije which ha<l beon
worshipped under the name of Jupiter or Mercurius
was baptized by another name, and adored as a tutelary
saint or a holy apostle. . . . No imlividual and no
Church was reckoned orthodox that trusted only to
the Son of God as a Saviour. Every one was placed
under the protection of a tutelar}'- saint, to wliom an
image was erected and forms of worship addressed,
In selecting saints to be worshipped, the
Catholic Christians showed no great fastidiousness.
Pagans, atheists, and imaginary persons who never
existed, have all received religious homage in the
Church of Rome." (Vol. II., p. 95, etc , " Robertson.")

The imposition of compulsory ties was one of the
results of the temporal power of the Pope. The union
of Church and State gained its completeness in the fall
of the Bishop of Rome from the ecclesiastical to the
secular realm.

In the year 787 a general council was convened,
which is called the Seventh General Council. The
number of bishops who attended it was 350.

At that council it was decreed, " That holy images
of the cross should be consecrated and put on the
sacred vessels and vestments, and upon the walls and
boards of private houses and in public ways ; and
especially that there should be images erected to the
Lord God, our Saviour Jesus Christ, of our Blessed
Lady the Mother of God, of the venerable angels, and
of all the saints ; and that whoever should presume to
think or teach otherwise, . . . they should, if
bishops or clergymen, be deposed, or if monks or lay-
men, excommunicated. They then pronounced anathe-
mas upon all who should not receive images, or who
should apply what the Scriptures say against idols to
the holy images, or call them idols.' (Downing's" Hist,
of Romanism," p. 170.)

Claiming to be the successor of St. Peter, the Pope,

SOUNDING THE ALARM.

275

when hard pressed, wrote to Pep'm, in the name of
Peter, to come to hi.s assistance. He said to the French
ki!ig, " It' you care to be cleansed from your sins and
to tarn eternal reward, hasten to the relief of my city,
of iny Church, of my people committed to my care. . . .
It has pleased Almighty God that my body should rest
in this city ; the body that has suffered for the sake of
Christ such exquisite torments can you, my Christian
sons, stand by unconcerned and see it insulted by the
most wicked of nations ? . . . My Lady the Virgin
Mary, Mother of God, joins in earnestly entreating,
nay, commands you to hasten, to run, to fly to the
relief of my favorite people. . . . My vicar might in
this extremity, have recurred, and not in vain to other
nations. But with me the French are, and ever have
been, the first, the best, the most deserving of all
nations ; and I would not suffer the reward, the ex-
ceeding great reward that is reserved in this and the
other world, for those who shall deliver my people, to
be earned by any other." ("Hist. Rome," p. 171.)

This touching appeai moved the heart of the French
king so effectually that he hastened to Rome to avenge
the insult offered to the bones of St. Peter, and to
divide up the territory of the Lombards between
himself and the Pope, so that the Papal power became
Hrmly established among the states of Europe.

li-

THE EFFECTS ON TRUE CHRISTIANITY.

Pope,

If we inquire as to the effects of this trumpet, and
the events that followed it, on the cause of the woman
in the wilderness, we shall find that it brought little
else than disaster and suffering from rirst to last. Still
hiding from the face of the dragon, still fearing the
claws and horns of the beast, still hated and hunted
by the woman in scarlet, still dreading the heat of the
mountain, and still trembling and

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276

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

like a wind-driven vessel on a stormy sea, the woman
seemed illy prepared to face this new enemy in the
field of conflict. From this time on, for some centuries,
her path led through deep waters. But perhaps the
events of no one of the centuries fell, with such crush-
ing weight upon the already burdened shoulders of
the sun-clothed woman as did those of the eighth.
The Gothic systems of government had, by this time,
become fairly well established, and Ecclesiasticism, with
the Pope at its head, had got complete control of most
of the courts of Europe. The little horn of Daniel, in
the form of the Papal States, had been planted in the
midst of surrounding kingdoms, and the bad woman
on her scarlet-colored boast, like Alexander of old,
hunting for new conquests, and with Mohammed and
his fanatical followers burning with lust, and with un-
holy religious zeal, all facing her and fighting against
her, it seemed sometimes, as though the eighth century
had set in motion such a combination of forces that the
woman in the wilderness could not survive the onset.
And the attack of these allied forces was something
terrible. Looking on the human side of the subject, it
often seemed to be only a question of time when the
Church in the wilderness should be blotted entirely
out of being.

Christianity was introduced into Britain at an early
date, some say by the Apostle Paul ; others claim that
primitive Cnristianity was introduced into Britain from
Byzantium in the third century, and that it came from
the Apostle John, and not from Paul or Peter. How-
ever this may be it seems certain that the type of
Christianity that was found in England, Scotland and
Ireland, when Augustine and his forty monks came to
England as missionaries from Rome, was entirely
different from the Paganized mongrel that they
brought with them from Pope Gregory to force upon
the British and Irish Christians. These British Chris-

SOUNDING THE ALARM.

277

tians had a regularly constituted Church, with an
institution of learning for the training of ministers
and teachers on the borders of Scotland. Their doc-
trines were Scriptural and their practices were in
harmony with the precepts of the Gospel. It was
among these people that Alexander Succat, who became
the St. Patrick of Ireland, got his religious training
for missionary work in Ireland.

When the missionary from Rome came to the
British islands, these people were there in considerable
numbers. Being driven from their places by the
soldiers at the instigation of the papal missionaries,
they fled into Wales; they were followed by the
soldiers. While 1,200 of them were at Bangor, engaged
in prayer, they were cruelly massacred to the number
1,150 ecclesiastics. (Lyman's "His. Chart.")

The Pope's temporal authority having been estab-
lished, and the payment of tithes in his own dominions
secured, Charlemagne began to think of converting
the Saxons, . . . and as soon as any of them submitted
to his authority he gave them new laws. He made it
a capital crime to refuse to be baptized, to be baptized
under false pretence, to murder a priest, or to eat flesh
in Lent. . . . By these and similar means — particu-
larly extensive bloodshed and massacres in some pro-
vinces, by removing all the inhabitants from others
and settling Franks in their room — they succeeded at
last in getting inhabitants who bore the Christian
name. When the Saxons consented to assume that
name it was with obvious reluctance, and merely as
the means of saving their lives. The Emperor's mis-
sionaries excelled chiefly in enforcing the lawp about
the payment of church dues on the Saxons, even
before they professed any regard to Christianity.
Obedience to these was now accounted the chief part
of religion ; the payment of tithes made a Christian
land ! . . . Four thousand five hundred of the Saxo" «

:,H: •

278

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

were beheaded on one spot, and after thirty-three
years of war they submitted to be baptized." (Robert-
son.)

From the falling of the Pope to the rank of a tem-
poral ruler, it made no difference to him and his
myrmidons, whether his victims were unwashed Pagans
or blood-washed Christians ; all outside the Estab-
lished Church were not only shut out from salvation,
but they were deprived of all civil, religious and secu-
lar rights, and that in the name of Christianit}'.

CHAPTER XIX.

DARKNESS GROWING DARKER.

ONE morninj; not lont^ after the conversation
recorded in the last chapter, the friends of
Ecclesia missed her from among them. They were in
a lonelj' mountainous region, in the country called Pied-
mont. While they were looking for her and begin-
ning to become a little uneasy about her, they heard
the voice of song coming from the mouth of a cave not
far from them. As they listened, they knew the voice
to be that of their mistress. Presently she came to
them with a look of resignation upon her face, and
joy beaming in her eyes. They asked her to repeat
for them the words she had been singing, so that they
might hear them. She complied with their request, and

sang :

" Now here must be my lonely dwelling,
While hiding from my foes away ;
No matter though my heart is swelling,
Saddened with grief here I must stay,
And be with many cares encumbered
Till all these dreary years are numbered.

"These sounding trumpets seem to rally

My foes in one united band,
The dragon and the beast, his aMy,

Their minions send through all the land ;
"While a great mountain red with burning,
The ocean into blood is turning.

I 1

280

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

" And now the bitter star in falling

On the clear waters that men drink,
Seems most distressing, most appalling,

Since into death so many sink ;
While Jezebel, like some mad fury,
Kills without either judge or jury.

*' What though by all of them I am hated,
While through the wilderness I roam,
Not hindered by them, nor belated,
I shall in safety reach my home ;
Then I will tell redemption's story
While standing on the hills of glory."

" I think," said Mr. Deeming, " that we may venture,
in this secluded spot, to hold another conversation."

Truth said, " It seems to me that our mistress be-
comes more determined and courageous as enemies
multiply and difficulties increase. The sun never looks
brighter than when it shines through a rift in the
cloud that obscures it, and the brilliancy is increased
by the dense blackness of the cloud. So the woman
clothed with the sun never looks so beautiful, nor
appears to be so lovely and pure, as when she is stand-
ing like a grand picture, outlined on a background of
surrounding darkness."

"That is true," said Mr. Littlefear ; "and how untidy
and unwomanly the rider on the ten-horned beast
appears when placed in contrast with our mistress,
even though she does live in the wilderness."

" Yes," replied Mr. Braveheart ; " with all her paints
and her flaunted trappings, her vanity and her blan-
dishments, her bewitching smiles and her winning
tones, there is something about the woman in scarlet
that puts modesty to the blush and sends honesty to
seek for more congenial companionship. But there is
at least one consolation, the world will understand
that bold, bad woman some day."

** That is so," said a voice behind them. On turning

DARKNESS GKOWING DARKER.

281

to the new coiner, they saw a man well up in years,
with an honest, open and expressive countenance, a
sharp, penetrating eye, and a brave, fearless manner,
standing only a few steps from them.

" My name is Hatesham," said the stranger, " and I
came up in time to hear a part of your conversation.
I live not far from here, in Antifraud Cottage, where,
with my good wife Sincerity, I live in quiet retire-
ment, and where my friends come now and then to
.spend a few days with me, when the false pretences of
the world around them become unbearable."

" We are happy to make your acquaintance," said
Mr. Braveheart, " and we will be glad to have your
company when you can find it convenient to spend an
hour or two with us."

" That I shall do with the greatest of pleasure, feel-
ing that the association will be very much to my
advantage," said Mr. Hatesham. " But how long do
you expect to be in these parts ?"

Truth answered, " We cannot tell. Our mistress
has been driven into the wilderness by a great dragon
and other enemies. We cannot tell how long we must
stay here, but it will be a long time."

The stranger said, " Is your mistress the woman
clothed with the sun, that is being so often spoken of
auiong the better sort of people ? " Then looking
Ecclesia fairly in the face, he said, " I need not ask
such a question ; I can see its answer in that truthful,
honest, kindly face. I am more pleased than I can
tell you, in having found a company that meets my
views of life and its duties so perfectly. I shall spend
much of my time among you, if you will permit it."

Mr. Braveheart said, " We shall be pleased to have
you with us at any time ; and when you came to us
our mispress was about to read to us out of a book
that we all think a great deal about. Perhaps you
can listen for awhile and hear her read ? "
10

282

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

Ecclesia opened the roll, and read, "And the fourth
angel sounded, and the third part of the sun was smit-
ten, and the third part of the moon, and the third part
of the stars ; so as the third part of them was dark-
ened, and the day shone not for a third part of it, and
the night likewise. And I l)eheld, and heard an angel
flying through the midst of heaven, saying, with a
loud voice, Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabiters of the
earth by reason of the other voices of the trumpet of
the three an^^els, which are yet to sound ! "

When she stopped reading, they all looked at the
interpreter and waited for his comments. Mr. Deeming
spoke as follows : " The first of the trumpets affected
the earth, or civil society. Under it the Western
empire fell to pieces. The second tiumpet cast a
burning mountain into the sea; it affected society
under a false or coi-rupt religious system. Under it
Mohammed started his career of conquest and cruelty.
The third trumpet cast the star wormwood upon the
rivers and fountains of water. This atfected the
doctrines and precepts of the Church, and made the
waters bitter. This cast the Bishop of Rome from the
spiritual to the secular realm.

"Now, this trumpet affects the heavenly bodies,
showing that the Christian religion will be, in some
way, influenced by it.

" The darkening of the sun and moon and stars is
intended to show that the gloom that has been gather-
ing and thickening under the seals and trumpets will
be increased under this one. The sun, as we have said
before,*means divine light, or the glory of Christ in the
Gospel. Now, anything that prevents this light from
shining on the minds and hearts of men is said to
darken or eclipse the sun. But in reality the sun is
not darkened ; it is the object upon which the sun
usually shines that is darkened, by being deprived of
the light. The Gospel, under this trumpet, will seem
to lose its enlightening and its saving power.

DARKNESS GllOVVING DARKER.

283

" The moon, representing the ordinances of relisfion,
is said to be darkened. Now, the moon gives no light
of its own. It simply reflects the light of the sun,
so that to darken the sun is to darken the moon.

" Christian ordinances are like the moon, thev have
no light in themselves. They are all meaningless
until the light of the Sun of the Gospel falls upon
them. When seen in the light of God, they are beau-
tiful and very significant ; but when deprived of that
light, they are obscure, and without use or beauty.
But these ordinances are lost in darkness when men
lose the knowledge of their import, or when they
attach to them a wider significance than the founder
of Christianity intended. Jesus said that the Lord's
Supper was intended to show forth his death until his
coming again. But the doctrine of the real presence
subverts this ordinance, so that instead of the bread and
wine in this sacrament, as a sign, showing forth the
death of Christ till he come, it is claimed that, in these
elements, the body, soul and divinity of the Saviour
are present. This changes the whole meaning of this
ordinance.

" Again, baptism is defined to be an outward, visible
sign of an inward, spiritual grace ; but to change the
i<ign of this inward grace into the cause of it, as the
doctrine of baptismal regeneration does, is to darken
the moon, as it is said in the prophecy."

" What about the stars being darkened ? " asked
Truth. "You have already told what a falling star
means, but what does a darkened star represent ? "

Mr. Deeming replied, " Darkness is a symbol of
ignorance. A star is the symbol of a minister. A
darkened star means an unenlijjhtened minister of
religion.

" The obscuration of the sun and moon and stars
points to a time when the rays of divine light shall
come to men through such a thick mist of superstition,

I L

284

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

that the day shall be only like a twilitrht. The ordi-
nances are hidden by beinjy lost in the doctrinal false-
hoods that are attached to them, and the ministers so
ignorant that they are not able to teach the people.
And the people are in such a compound ignorance that
they do not know they are in darkness. This is the
condition of things indicated by the darkening of the
heavenly bodies as spoken of under this trumpet."*

THE COURSE OF EVENTS CHANGED.

Ecclesia said to the interpreter, " What do you
understand to be the import of the proclamation of the
angel saying, ' Woe, woe, woe, to the inhabitants of the
earth because of the trumpets yet to be sounded ? ' "

The interpreter answered, " There are twenty-one
distinct events foreshadowed by the seven seals, the
seven trumpets, and the seven vials. Christianity
going forth to the conquest of the world is one of
these events ; this leaves twenty, or twice ten. Now
the first ten of these events, that is, six of the seals
and four of the trumpets, each in its turn, brings
disaster to the cause of Christ in some way. To use
a comparison, in the first ten conflicts the rider on the
white horse seems to be worsted by his allied foes. But
this proclamation indicates a change in the tide of
events. The foes are now to have the worst of it ;
they are to feel the weight, and to realize the strength
of that conquering arm as they have not felt it before.
The three trumpets that are yet to sound mean three

* Under the fourth and fifth trumpets, the darkness became
so dense that scholarship and learning seemed to be banished
from the Christian world. The period of time from the ninth
to the thirteenth century has been termed the midnight of the
world. To use an Old Testament phrase, it may be truly said,
"That darkness covered the earth, and gross darkness the
people."

i:JSL

DARKNESS GROWING DARKER.

285

successive woes to tlic enemies of the rider on the
white horse, and the last one of the woes will include
all the terrible effect of the seven vials of wrath that
are to be poured out upon the world."

Ecclesia said to Mr. ])eeming, " What class of people
will be mostly affected by the woes, or will all suffer
alike under them ?"

He replied, " The angel proclaims the woes to the
inhabitants of the earth ; that means civil society,
without reference to religious condition. False reli-
gions and fallen Churches will come in for their share
of punishment, but they and their doom will be found
foreshown by other prophecies in this book. In the
woes pronounced here they will be on the same list
with the other members of civil society.

" We may understand this to refer, first, to persons
living in a community; and secondly, to customs and
institutions that prevail in society. An inhabitant is
one that has a legal, permanent residence in any place ;
but an inhabiter is a dweller in a place, either as an
inhabitant or as a temporary, transient resident. The
inhabitant is more intimately associated with the
interests of society tlian the mere temporary dweller
or transitory inhabiter is expected to be. My opinion
is that the woes pronounced here will be felt by
wicked people in the destruction of sinful customs and
institutions that have been sources of gain or plea-
sure.* Whatever exists in society that is detrimental
to its best interests is, in one sense, an inhabiter, and
will be affected by these woes. A civilization based
on Christian principles, and guided by Christian teach-

*The abolition of slavery, that brought such woe upon those
engaged in it, is a case in point ; and if we do not entirely mistake
the teachings of this book, the liquor traffic, landlordism, inor-
dinate or extravagant interest will ultimately fall under the
crushing weight of these woes.

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286

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

ing, and developed under Christian influences, would
brinj^ back the harmlessness and happiness of Eden,
and make this world a tit type of the heavenly state ;
and that is what the rider on the white horse is con-
tending for, and that will be the final outcome of his
conquest over all the foes that oppose his progress
and impede his work. What the six seals and four
trumpets have done to build up false systems of reli-
gion and of government, will be undone by the three
trumpets yet to be blown, and the seven vials that are
to be poured out, one hy one, on the enemies that have
been brought on the scene of conflict, who shall he
weakened until they all meet their doom at last on the
bloody field of Armageddon. Then there will be a
time of peace and happiness, such as this world has
never een since man sinned his way out of Eden."

Ecclesia said to Mr. Deeming, " We will pass on to
the next trumpet, and see what we find in connection
with that."

ANOTHER FALLING STAR.

At the interpreter's request, she read from the ninth
chapter of Revelation, " And the fifth angel sounded,
and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth : and
to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.* And
he opened the bottomless pit ; and there arose a smoke
out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace ; and
the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the
smoke of the pit. And there came out of the smoke
locusts upon the earth : and unto them was given
power, as the scorpions of the earth have power. And
it was commanded them that they should not hurt the
grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither
any tree ; but only those men which have not the seal

* The new version has pit of .ae abyss, which is the better
rendering.

DARKNESS (UIOVVING DARKER.

287

of God in their forclieads. And to them it was given
that they should not kill them, but that they should
be tormented five months : and their torment was as
the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.
And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not
find it ; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee
from them."

Mr. Deeminn; said, when Ecclesia closed the book,
" we have here another falling star and more dark-
ness; but the darkness this time is caused by smoke,
and not by the darkening of the heavenly bodies
themselves. The air, too, is also made dark by this
smoke."

" What does the air and the smoke symbolize ? "
inquired Ecclesia.

" Mr. Braveheart said, " I hope, for the sake of our
mistress, that they do not represent some new enemies.
She has enough and to spare of these aituady."

Mr. Deeming said, "Air is a symbol of public
opinion. The air is affected by heat or cold, by mois-
ture or drought, by darkness and light. Air in motion
we call wind, and the violence or otherwise of the
motion makes the difference between the gentle breeze
and the fierce tornado. Nothing could better illus-
trate the changefulness of public opinion than air.

" Smoke is no part of the air, but it floats in it and
affects its conditions, so that the air becomes hurtful
to the lungs and painful to the eyes, and in this way
it is injurious to both health and vision. Anything
that is seen through a smoky atmosphere is not dis-
tinctly seen. Whatever beauty there may be found
in an object seen in a pure clear air, if the same thing
is looked at through smoke the beauty will be gone,
and the feelinor that is boorotten in our mind will be
one of aversion instead of delight.

" Smoke is a symbol of something that influences
public opinion ; and I think it means delusions, illusions,

I ' I

28g

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

and fantascic notions that are the outgrowth of errors
in the teaching that men have been subject to."

Truth said, " What do you think this falling star
represents ? "

Mr. Deeming replied, "According to our method of
interpretation it must represent some one that falls
from the ecclesiastical to the secular realm. Some
minister in the Church who leaves his position there
to become something that is connected with secular
aiiairs — it may be in ci 'I life, or it may be military
life, or it may be both c mbined.* My opinion is that
it means the man who is at the present time stirring
Europe from centre to circumference by his powerful
appeals to the various potentates, to influence them to
lead their armies to the Holy Land to rescue the
Christians of that country from the Turks and Sara-
cens. He is tilling the air with smoke that issues
out of the pit of the abyss ; that is, he is filling the
minds of the people with delusions a' d fantastic
notions of duties and obligations, and he is making
them believe that heaven itself can be gained by falling
ill such a rij^hteous cause as that of fifjhtinjx against
the infidels, And thousands are ready to go on this
expedition.-|-

* Peter the Hermit, preacliing up the Crusades would just
meet the reciuivenients of this interpretation. He was at diiier-
cnt times monk, pilgrim, commissioner of Pope Urban, and
military leader in the First Cuisade. Died A.D. 1100. This
trumpet sounded before that date.

+ Mr. Robertson says, " The wonder is that this enthusiastic
spirit had been kept alive so long, that six generations should
have persisted amitl disasters and failures in the same delu-
sions." Annie, the daughter of the Greek emperor, in writing
their history, employs the images of locusts, leaves tjf the trees,
the santls on the sea-shore, and stars of heaven, to represent the
immense multitudes, and she exclaims, " Eurojto Mas loosened
from its foundations and was hurled against Asia ! " Of their
character and morals much need not be said.

Darkness growino darker.

289

What do you understand by the pit out of which
the smoke and the locusts issued ? " inquired Ecclesia.

He answered, " Tliis falling star has given to him
the key of the i)it of the abyss.* Not the key of the
bottomless pit, but the pit or well leading to the abyss.
Now we read in one of the miracles of our Lord, when
he commanded the devils to go out of a man, they
entreated Jesus that he would not command thon.i to
depart into the abyvs. (Luke viii. 31, New Version.)
In another place, where the same transaction is recorded,
it is said, " And besought him much that he would not
send them away out of the country." (Mark v. 10.)
Here w^e see that the Evangelists have used the term
abyss, and out of the country, as meaning the same
thing. Out of the country of the Jews meant to go
into the country of the Gentiles. To a Jew the abyss
was the Gentile world. To iio far hence amone" the
Gentiles would be to go into the abyss. And the open-
ing of tlie pit or well of the abyss simply means to
make a way for the Gentile world to pour its n)illions
of fanatical adventurers into the land of Palestine,
which was the home of God's ancient people, and the
birthplace of Christianity. And out of the strong
delusions that have spread over the public opinion of
Christendom these Crusaders go forth like great swarnjs
of locusts out of the smoke.f And the locusts will go
forth during the period of five months, or 150 years."

" Why were they told not to hurt any green thing,
nor any tree ? " inquired Truth.

Mr. Deeming replied, " The trees represent the kings
and potentates and subordinate rulers of society.

■* New version, which is much better.

tTho first of the bands went forth in A.D. 1099 and the last
or sixth, which was the last that acconiplislied anything, was in
1249. This was 150 years, or five months, which is the time given
the locusts in the prophecy.

[

290

CLOTHED WITH THE SUJf.

These the locusts would naturally take. But they
were forbidden to act in this accord inpf to the laws of
their natures, and commanded to spar'j the very thing
that they could live upon as food. These Crusaders
are not commissioned to prey upon the inhabitants of
the countries through which they pnss, nor are they
permitted to overturn any kingdom or government
that bears the Christian name. The}'' mi^ht not kill
even those whom they were allowed to torment for
five months.* The locusts have power to torment and
make the enemies of Christianity very UTicomfortable.
But they cannot de.>.troy them.

HISTORICAL llESULTS.

The fifth trumpet must of necessity come after the
fourth and before the sixth. By the fourth trumpet
the union of Church and State was made complete.
In the fall of the Pope to the position of an earthly
potentate, and still retaining the status of Supreme
Pontiff in the Church, the states of Christendom
were broufjht into a condition of vas-alag^e that
would have been an impossibility had the Church
and State remained separate. As king of Rome, and
having Lombardy and Ravenna as a part of his terri-
tory, he became one of the leading potentates of
Europe ; and as such his opinions and wishes would
command the attention and demand the respect of the
other riders. He could make his influence felt in the
diplomatic circles, and in all international questions
the same as others. And above and be3^ond all this,
he was the spiritual ruler of the millions of people
who adhered to the Church that acknowledaed him as

* It is a remai'kable fact that in all the struggles of the
Crusaders during a century and a half they were not able to sub-
due tlic Moliannnedaus nor to materially cliange things in Pales-
tine.

V^Sl..

DARKNESS GROWING DARKER.

291

its head. So that it came about that his word had
more force than the words of any ten men in Europe.
In fact, under this trumpet, the Pope was all-powerful.
If he lifted his linger, all Europe stood waiting to see
in what direction it would be pointed. If he expressed
a wish, scores of crowned heads would be rushing past
each other to gratify his wish. If he uttered a threat,
Europe trembled and turned pale. If he gave a com-
mand, millions of soldiers were ready to die on the
l)attle-field to enforce that command. If he said there
nmst be war, there would be war. And if ho said
there must be peace, there would be peace.

When ro^'alty and papal supremacy centred in one
man, he was placed on a high vantage ground, both in
civil and ecclesiastical atFairs. Beinor at the head of
the State, he could bind men's bodies, and being the
head of the (Jhurch, he could bind their consciences.
So that in the administration of affairs, both temporal
and spiritual, he claimed to have divine authority —
for, that kings reigned by divine right was the preva-
lent notion among both rulers and ruled until a recent
date ; and, in fact, the notion is not dead yet in many
countries. And it is easy to see what temptations a
man is exposed to when placed in such a position.
With absolute power in his hands, and being placed
above State parliaments and Church councils, it is not
at all to be wondered at that human nature so often
asserted itself in the actions of the Popes. With Impe-
rialism, Ecclesiasticism, State- Churchism and Absolut-
ism, all combining to make a man tyrannical and
sellish, the wonder is that the Popes of Rome had a
particle of humility or generosity left in any of them.
And it is only charitable to say of them, those that
were bad among them were so in conse(|uence of their
unfavorable surroundings ; and those that were good,
were so despite a bad system, and they had to tight
against tremendous inlluences to keep from being

[ >

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292

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

carried away by the ever-changing circumstances that
entered into the warp and woof of their public and
private life and duties.

And it is worthy of note, that after one hundred and
fifty years of unrest, and turmoil, and upheaval among
the countries and peoples of Europe, the political map
of the country was left unchanged. No new state
arose and none of the old ones were overthrown. The
locusts were not to hurt the grass and trees in human
society. And the Crusaders destroyed none of the
institutions and overthrew none of the rulers in the
Church nor in the State during this time of action.
During the time of this trumpet, the darkest hour of
the world's midnight came and passed away. The
moral darkness that characterized this period was only
equalled by the intellectual darkness that prevailed
everywhere and in all classes of society. Ignorance of
the first rudiments of school learning was very com-
mon, even among those whose wealth and position
placed them among the leaders of the people. And in
the Chu Ji it was the same. Many of the clergy were
unable to read or write, and were men of the lowest
intellectual type. Their qualifications for the clerical
office consisted mostly in a blind adherence to the
teachings, and an implicit obedience to the dictates of
the See of Rome.

And the duties to be discharged by them was to
mumble a few Latin sentences which neither them-
selves nor their auditors could understand; to attend
the auricular confessions of penitents ; to look after
the collection of tithes ; to hunt for heretics and
denounce them, and to enjoy life among their l>rethren
in whatever way suited tliem.

But dark as was the world's midnifjht under this
trumpet, the events that took place during its sounding
brought the dawning of a brighter day. The pit of
the abyss that was opened to allow the smoke of

DARKNESS GROWING DARKER.

293

inii

western delusions to escape and darken the eastern
sky, also gave a passage-way to the rays of eastern
light and literature to penetrate the western darkness
and chase away some of the thickest of its gloom.
The crusading locusts that entered the eastern countries
through this pit or passage-way, if they lived to return
to their western homes they brought with them the
germinal ideas of a new literature and an improved
civilization. So that the cause of true Christianity
was not injured by this trumpet.

Although the riders on the red and black and roau
horses were stimulated under this trumpet, yet they
were not strengthened, and the reflex influence of these
Crusades weakened them. And the downfall of these
enemies of the rider on the white horse commenced
when this trumpet was sounding. And this downfall
will be greatly accelerated under the next one, when
the Euphratian horsemen are let loose upon the Chris-
tian countries. But more of that further )n.

The course of events are now changed in the pro-
phetic history, and every important event in the
world's progress in some way strengthens the cause of
Christ and weakens that of His enemies.

This is to continue until the last enemy of our
blessed Lord shall bite the dust on the fields of Arma-
geddon.

I !

: i

■■ if-

CHAPTER XX.

BLOW FOll BLOW.

OW,"said Mr. Deeming, at their next meeting,
" we are done with the smoke and the locusts,
we will see what comes next in the order of our
studies."

" All are waiting to hear what the next great move
is to be," said Mr. Hatesham.

" I hope it will not be so much about war and fii^ht-
ing as some of the past ones have been," said Love.

" We can hardly expect peace while so many foes
are plotting against our cause and trying to overthrow
it," replied Truth.

" These enemies will one and all be finally conquered,
and the Master's cause will triumph over all the world
in the end," put in Hope.

'* Yes," said Faith, "for is it not said that He shall
reign till all His enemies are put under Him, and none
of the promises of God can fail."

Ecclesia stood listening to this conversation till they
ceased, and then she commenced to read from the book
in her hand :

" One woe is past ; and, behold, there cometh two
woes more hereafter.

" And the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice
from the four horns of the golden altar which is before
God, saying to the sixth angel which had the trumpet.

BLOW FOR BLOW.

295

Loose the i^mr angels wliich are bound in the ij^reat
river Euphrates.

"A!k1 the four anf^els were loosed, which were pre-
pared for an hour, and a day, and a montli, and a year,
for to slay the third part of men.

" And the number of the army of the horsemen were
two hundred thousand thousand : and I heard the
number of them.

" And thus I saw the horses in the vision, and them
that sat on them, having breastplates of lire, and of
jacinth, and brimstone : and the heads of the horses
were as the heads of lions ; and out of their mouths
issued fire and smoke and brimstone.

" By these three w^ere the third part of men killed,
by the fire, and by the smoke, and by the brimstone,
which issued out of their mouths."

" That is dreadful ! " said Love. " Only to think of
it makes me shudder. Horses sendinfj fire and smoke
and brimstone out of their mouths — it is something
terrible."

" Mr. Deeming, can you make out the meaning of all
this ? " inquired Ecclesia.

" We will talk it over, and try to come to some con-
clusion as to the meaning of the symbols," replied the
interpreter.

" The Euphrates is the chief river in Asia Minor,
and it figures in ancient history more, perhaps, than
any other river in the world. Babylon, and Nineveh
and Ashur stood on its banks. The name means ' to
make fruitful.' Abram had to cross this river in going
from the home of his people, in Mesopotamia, to
Canaan.

" The anjjels that are said to be bound in the river,
mean some powers or forces to be found in the
country of Euphrates that God will use for the fur-
therance of his p' IS. An angel frequently means
something that full is the threatenings or the promises

iii

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296

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

-m..i

of God. Under the last trumpet, the pit of the abyss
was opened to furnish a passage-way for the hordes of
Europe to send their crusading armies into Asia, and
especially into Sja'ia and Palestine. Now tho echoes
of the trumpet are heard on the banks of the old time-
honored river, and the peoples whose lands are made
fruitful b}' its flowing waters are let loose to follow
their leaders into the countries of ^-he recent invaders
of their own homes. The Crusaders are to receive a
return visit from their friends the Turks."

" Who do you thiuk are represented by the four
angels that are set at liberty?" asked Truth.

" They are the four governments into which the
empire of the Turks is divided, and under the four
Sultans of Bagdad, Aleppo, Damascus and Iconium."

" What is understood by their slaying one third part
of men for an hour, and a day, and a month, and a
year ? " asked Ecclesia.

" The time is prophetic time," he replied. " Allow-
ing 360 days for a year, and 30 days for a month, and
24 hours for a day, this would be equal to 391 years
and 15 days that they are to continue their con-
quests." * They are to slay one third part of men
with the smoke and the fire and the brimstone that
issued out of their mouths.

"These are horsemen, arid their number is put
down as two hundred thousand thousand, or two
hundred millions.

" The third part of men may mean that the world
is divided into three classes in regard to their religion,
viz.. Christians, Mohammedans and Pagans. In this
case the slaughter of Christians may be intended ; or
the division mav be on racial lines. The ancient

* From the taking of Katuha, their first, to the taking of Camoe-
nii«, the last of their conquests, is exactly 391 years ; and probably
the fifteen days would be found if we had the precise dates.

BLOW FOR BLOW.

297

four

world has been classified as Hamites, Shemites and
Japhethites, or Aryans, to wliom was j^iven Europe
and the Isles of the Sea. The slayin^r here spoken of
will be amonc; the Japhethite Christians in Europe,
so that on either of these suppositions the third part
or division of men will be subjected to this slav^hter."

" Vre those Aryans a very numerous race of people ?"
asked Truth, who seemed j^reatly interested.

" Yes," replied Mr, Deeming, " to that race belong
the blonde Norwegians, the dark-eyed Spaniards, the
mercurial Celts, the self-appreciating Anglo-Saxons,
the polite Frenchmen, the Sclavonic Russians, the
dreamy Hindoos, the meditative Germans, the proud
Persians, the restless Greeks, and the organizing
Romans. All these are proved to be emigrants from
one home, and to have once spoken a common lan-
guage."*

" One would suppose that a race so numerous as this
would be able to repel any attack that could be made
upon it," put in Braveheart.

*' You must not forget that the race is not always
to the swift, nor the battle to the strong," replied Mr.
Deeming ; " besides this, think of the numbers and the
weapons of these horsemen. Two hundred millions of
men, well armed, and on fleet war-horses, would be a
force that it would be very hard to withstand, even if
they had only the old-time armor and weapons of
war. But a new mode of warfare seems to be pointed
out in the prediction, as weP as a new kind of wea-
pons. Fire, and smoke, and brimstone are certainly
not found among the old-time methods of killing men
in battle."t

* Brace's " Manual of Ethnology," page 60.

t Gunpowder was invented in 1340, at Cologne, The Turks
passed into Europe in 1341. Cannon were first used in 1342, and
muskets in 1370. These were first used in the wars under this
trumpet,

1 '

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298

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

When Mr. Deeming ceased speaking, Ecclesia com-
menced singing in sweet and cheerful tones :

"Advancing columns everywhere
Into tlie fearful conflict run,
While clouds of smoke eclipse the sun,
And burning brimstone fou's the air.

" These horsemen rushing to the fight.
Their steeds begrimed with sweat and dust,
Their swords made red with bluod and rust,
Are harbingers of coming light.

*'Soon the world's midnight will be o'er,
Ages of darkness soon will end,
And God will raise me up a friend
To give me back my place once more.

"Meanwhile, I will securely rest
In my secluded shadowy home.
Until the brighter times shall come
When I with freedom shall be blest."

EXPLANATIONS AND HISTORY.

In the year 1341, the Turks passed into Europe to
assist the Greek emperor, and in 1346 Orchan obtained
the emperor's daughter in marriage, and being soon
after invited into Europe to assist his father-in-law
with his troops, he passed over with ten thousand
hoi^emen and insensibly filled Chersonesus with a
Turkish colony. He refused likewise to give up the
fortresses of Thrace which he had defended or taken
from the enemy. Thus the first settlement of the
Turks in Europe was obtained by perfidy.

Amurath, who succeeded Orchan, was indefatigable
in pushing his European conquest, and having subdued
the whole of Thrace, he fixed on AdrianophS for the
capital of his government, and of the Mohammedan
religion in Europe. He overcame the Sclavonian
nations between the Danube and the Adriatic; sub-

BLOW FOR BLOW.

299

dued the Bul<,''arians, the Servians, the Bosnians, the
Albanians, and left the Greek emperor with little
more than that which was enclosed by the walls of
Constantinople

The next ruler of the Turks was Bajazet. . . . He
kept his numerous armies of horsemen continually on
the move through the extent of his dominions, from the
Danube to the Euphrates. ... In Europe, the cities
which till then had adhered to the Christian emperor
were forced bv him to acknowledi'e a Mohammedan
master. He imposed a regular form of servitude on
the Servians and Bulgarians, he sought new enemies
and acquired new subjects in Moldavia beyond the
Danube ; he subdued part of Greece beyond Thermo-
pylae and stationed a Heet at the Hellespont to prevent
any succors of the Latin princes from reaching Con-
stantinople. Sigismund, King of Hungary, when
attacked by him, procured assistance from the west.
Numerous armies came to his help, containing the
bravest knights in Germany and France. But at
Nicopolis, in the year 1396, Bajazet defeated the con-
federate army of above one hundred thousand Chris-
tians ; the greater part of whom were slain on the field
or driven by the Turkish horsemen into the Danube, . . .
His cruelty to the prisoners after the battle cannot be
detailed here. They were brought before him. All
of inferior rank who refused to embrace the Moham-
medan religion were beheaded in his presence. A few
of the higher ranks were dragged about his camp, and
after many objections and delays, were set free for a
very great ransom.

Mohammed II. spent a considerable time in prepara-
tions for the fifth siege of Constantinople. This city
had been the capital of the Greek empire from the
time of Theodosius the Great. But it had lost its
prestige, and its inhabitants had lost their valor and
their soldierly manhood. On the sixth day of April,

— , Vi

300

CLOTHKD WITH THE SUN.

^'jijj

1453, the Turk sat down before Constantinople witli
an army of 300,000 men and 300 ships. Amonof the
weapons used in this sicf^e it is said that one of
ordnance was capahhi of throwing six hundred pounds
of metal. It was made by a Hungarian at Adrianoplo,
and it took a team of sixty horses to draw it. Two
hundred men walked beside it to keep it from rolling off
the waggons, and two hundred and fifty men went
before it to level the way and repair the bridges. It
required two months to take this cannon 150 miles.*

We hear it said that history repeats itself. So it does.
And sometimes it reverses itself, as in the case under
the fifth cind sixth trumpet". Under the fifth trumpet
the Crusaders rushed by hundreds of thousands to
wrest the city that God had repudiated, and the
sepulchre which Jesus had vacated, out of the hands
of the Mohammedans, and to regain the control of the
territory whose soil had been pressed by the feet, and
moistened by the sweat-drops of the world's Redeemer.
But after the strifes of 150 years, and after six or
seven vain attempts to accomplish the work they had
undertaken, they left things as they found them, or
nearly so.

But under the sixth trumpet the tide is turned, and
the Turks enter Europe; and the Christians find them-
selves unable to defend their own cities and institu-
tions against the invaders. And after many years of
conflict and the loss of many thousands of lives, the
invaders take Constantinople and overthrow the
Eastern empire, after it had lasted through the strifes
and struggles of more than a hundred decades. And
the Turks are in Europe still ; and although their com-
mission ran out in 1672, God has permitted the
jealousies and competitions of the Christians of
Europe to keep them there still. God was done

*See *'Great Sieges of History, '= p. 392.

' r

done

BLOW FOR BLOW.

301

with the Turks in Europe — vvlien the 891 years had
expired. But the Cliristian nations still need them
as a sort of j^^o-between to keep the crowned head;5 of
Europe from striking aLjainst eaeh other in the
scrnmhle for the territory now occupied by the
Tuikish em))ire. Under this trumpet, Tamerlane, who
was of Turkish descent and a relative of Gen<rhis
Khan the Mo<jjul, founded an empire with Samarkand
as the capital. It included Turkey in Asia, the
northern part of Arabia, Persia, Hindostan, indepen-
dent Tartary and the western part of Thibet.* He died
on his way to China, and his empire was soon weak-
ened and destroyed by dissensions. Russia was overrun,
and Moscow taken by him A.I). IliOO. It is said of
this cruel monster that . m he invaded Persia and
took Ispahan and sii* v^ht ed the irdiabitants, he
burned pyramids of hii. . heads. The purposes of
the great Ruler of the univei'se in allowinor the Turks
to stay so long in Europe after the 391 years of their
commission was expired is one of those mysteries that
can only be explained by the developments of the
future.

A CONVERSATION ON FACTS.

As Ecclesia and her friends were passing through a
field one day, Mr. Braveheart struck his foot against a
round piece of hard metal. He stooped, and, taking it
into his hand, he held it up for the rest to look at.

" What is that ? " asked two or three at once.

" That," said a voice from behind a cart-load of bar-
ley, " is a cannon ball, there are a good many of them
around here ; I have frequently turned them up out
of the ground when ploughing the fields."

The speaker was an elderly farmer, who was engaged
hauling in grain out of the field, through which
Ecclesia and her friends were passing.

*See " Lyman's Historical Chart."

30^

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

f, f\

" I suppose," said Mr. Braveheart, " that this was
once a battle-field, from what you say ?"

" Yes," replied the fanner, whosft name was Andro-
nicus ; " this was one of the places where the Turks and
Christians had a battle about a hundred years ago,
during the conquest of Nice and Nicomedia."

" A battle-field is a monument of human ambition
and human wickedness," put in Ecclesia.

" That is true," replied Andronicus ; " but in this
case, the one party was simply trying to defend their
homes against the invaders of their country, and they
had no choice but to fight or submit to foreign rule,
both civilly and religiously."

Mr. Braveheart replied, " They would be less than
men, they would be undeserving the rights of self-
government, and of liberty of conscience, if they would
allow their country to be thus subjected without a
struggle, and, if need be, a desperate struggle, to defend
their homes and altars."

Andronicus said, " Great as has been the conflicts
between the Greeks and the Mohammedan Turks, there
have been harder conflicts between the Turks them-
selves, and between them and other Mongolian tribes.
For instance, my father was c 'er the battle-field of
Angora a few months after the conflict between Tamer-
lane and Bajazet, when the latter was taken prisoner,
and the former became master of the whole Turkish
dominions. He is said to have built a pyramid of
skulls at Ispahan. According to accounts he might
have built a dam across the River Kizil, on whose banks
the battle-field is found, with dead men's bones. This
man had won so manv victories, that he claimed that
three parts of the world was under his control. It was
a good thing for humanity when his ambitious career
was suddenly brought to an end while on his way to
conquer China.

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303

•ins, "

WHAT THE TRUMPETS DID.

" Six trumpets have been sounded," said Mr. Deem-
and there is one more yet to sound, and that is
to introduce the third great series of events — the pour-
ing of the seven vials of wrath."

" Yes," said Ecclesia, " according to the reading of
this book there is to be one more trumpet, and then
will commence the vials."

Mr. Deeming said, " Would it not be well for us to
take a look over the trumpet period, and see what
changes have been made in the constitution of society,
and in the conditions of the Christian world since the
last of the seals was opened ?"

" I have sometimes thought of proposing the same
thing," said Ecclesia. '' A brief survey of the past will
help us to prepare for the future."

" The trumpet period has been a stormy period." said
Truth.

" Yes, that is so," excl limed Hope. " But it is prob-
able that the worst of the storm is past, and that the
world will have sunshine in future."

" The world will not have settled calm and sunshine
for a long while yet," Truth answered. " Thero are
great changes to come yet before the enemies of our
Lord and His Bride shall be crushed and driven from
the field."

"That day will come," said Faith, "and then the
world will know how vain it is to contend with the
Lord's Anointed, for we are told that He that sitteth
in the heavens will laugh, and the Lord shall have
them in derision."

Mr. Deeming said, " We will now turn back, and
glance over the events that have been the subjects of
our discussion, and then we can contrast the past with
the present, and see what changes have taken place.

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CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

The opening of the first seal showed us a white
horse and rider, which we decided to represent the
system of Christianity, with Christ at its head, going
forth to the conquest of the world.

" We next saw Imperialism, symbolized by a red
horse and rider, and using the Roman empire as an
instrument of persecution to overthrow the Church or
Bride of Christ.

" Then we saw a black horse and rider, with a yoke
in his hand, which represents Ecclesiasticism imposing
the yoke of priestlj tyranny and superstitious cere-
monies ; selling the Gospel for money, and starving the
souls of men with spiritual famine.

" Next we saw a pale or roan horse and rider, who
kills both with the sword and with famine, and also
with the beasts of the earth, or persecuting State gov-
ernments. This was a symbol of State-Churchism.

" Then when the fifth seal was opened we saw how
the Christians mistook the real character of the roan
horse and his rider, by supposing him to be a friend.

" And when the sixth seal was opened we saw the
terror of the P:igans when the roan horse made his
appearance or .le field. They took him for an enemy,
although he was their friend, as they learned later on.

" Then we have the beautiful symbol of the woman
clothed with the sun, signifying the true Church
enveloped with divine light, and being free from all
pollutions from contact with the world.

"After this we saw the great red dragon in the
presence of the woman, signifying Paganism in alliance
with the State getting into the State Church, and
forming the system of State-Churchism, as symbolized
by the roan horse and his rider.

" The woman flees from the face of the dragon when
she refuses to go into State alliances and she lingers
among the dissenting Christians for more than a
century, and at last flees to the wilderness. Then the

BLOW FOR BLOW.

305

dragon tries to destroy her by sending a flood of false
doctrines after her. This is swallowed up by the
earth, so that the woman is not affected by it.

" Then the dragon sends the beast with seven heads
and ten horns after the woman, to hunt her and tor-
ment her during the forty-two months of his reign."

Truth remarked, " Is it not a striking coincidence
that the forty-two months of the reign of the beast
and the twelve hundred and sixty days of the woman
in the wilderness are so exactly equal in time, and
they seem to measure the same period ? "

" Yes," said Mr. Deeming, " the woman existed
before she went to the wilderness, and she will con-
tinue after her return from it. So the beast existed
from the time that Paganized Christianity became
allied with the State, but so long as the dragon him-
self could control the State, he did not need the
services of the beast to persecute the woman. But
Gratian, the emperor, refused to continue to hold the
double oflSce of Pontificnn Maximus of Paganism and
Bishop of Bishops in the Church, A.D. 375 ; and then
the senate, at the close of the century, abolished
Paganism by law, so it became necessary to change the
mode of attack upon the woman and her friends. It
also became necessary to find a new instrument of
persecution. For although Paganism was still found
in the teachings and ceremonies of the State Church,
yet it had lost the control of the State. The dragon,
therefore, gave to the beast his seat or throne, his
power and great authority, and he commenced to
reign when, as a system of Paganized Christianity, he
got control of both Church and State."

THE TRUMPET PERIOD.

" When did the first trumpet begin to .sound ? "
inquired Mr. Braveheart.

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CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

Mr. Deeming answered, " It began about 406 or 408,
but its heaviest blast was heard about 476, when the
Western empire fell and the Gothic system was set
up on its ruins. True, the empire was greatly shaken
before this, but its final fall then took place.

" It was during this trumpet, about A.D. 428, that
the Church went to the wilderness, and the reign of
the beast began."

" What was done under the second trumpet ? " in-
quired Truth.

" The Mohammedan religion and the Saracen empire
were set up under this trumpet. They were sym-
bolized by a great mountain burning with fire cast
into the sea. They formed a connection similar to
that between the Church and the State. The Koran
or Mohammedan Bible is their code of laws, both civil
and religious. The rider on the roan horse was
strengthened and en< luraged by the setting up of the
Mohammedan system of State-Churchism. (This was
about A.D. 612.)

"The third trumpet," continued Mr. Deeming,
" showed a burning star falling on the rivers and
fountains of waters. This announces the fall of the
Pope of Rome from the spiritual to the secular realm
when he became a temporal ruler. This strengthened
the rider on the black horse. (About A.D. 755.)

" Under the fourth trumpet the sun and moon and
stars are darkened, showing that great ignorance
prevails in both Church and. State. An angel now
proclaims that the three trumpets yet to sound are
woe trumpets to the inhabiters of the earth, which
indicates that the current of events is about to change,
and that better times are coming for the woman in
the wilderness.

" The fifth trumpet was heard in the abyss, and the
well or pit of the abyss was opened to make a passage
for the Crusaders to go into Syria and Palestime. A

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BLOW FOR BLOW.

307

and

faint dawn of light comes from the east about the end
of the crusading period, A.D. 1250.

" The sixth trumpet lets loose the four angels of the
Euphrates, or the four Turkish Sultans. The numer-
ous hosts of Turkish horsemen spread in all directions
and overrun many countries, and by the taking of
Constantinople and scattering the Greek language and
literature among the more westerly nations, they also
serve to increase the light that had begun to dawn."*

" It is a long time since I fled to the wilderness from
the face of the dragon, and the 1,260 days must be
drawing towards an end," said Ecclesia, when Mr.
Deeming finished his review.

*' Yes, that is true," remarked Faith ; " and in all
these dismal years we have heard from you no com-
plaints, and no finding fault with the hardness of your
lot."

"Always thoughtful and always hopeful, and some-
times cheerful and sometimes happy amid the check-
ered experiences and ever-changing conditions of
these long and tedious years, we have all found our
mistress to be," said Truth ; " and I have often won-
dered at the fortitude that she has shown under the
most trying circumstances, and in times of the greatest
danger."

Ecclesia replied, with much feeling, " How could it
be otherwise, when I have been in possession of so
many helpers ? I have the Truth that makes me free,
and the Faith that overcometh the world, the Hope

n i

* The hour, and day, and month, and year had not been com-
pleted when the Reformation commenced. From 1281 till 1G72
the Turks were in Europe by divine appointment, after that they
remained through divine forbearance. Luther began the Refor-
mation about A.D, 1517, and before the end of the Turkish
period the two-horned beast of the earth had arisen and began
his career, and had taken a part of the dominion of the first
beast.

f!i;|iii

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CLOTHED WITH THE SUI^.

that is as an anchor to the soul, and the Love that
casteth out fear ; each and all of them with me all the
time ? And besides all these, I have been sustained by
an arm that is stronger than the beast or dragon, Pjpe
or potentate, Turk or Mohammedan. How can I fail
with such assistance and such environments ? " And
she gave vent to her hopefulness in the following
words :

" Methinks I hear some distant echoes,
Come floating on the troubled air,
Wliich seem to speak of coming heroes
Who shall for my return prepare.

*' For my return to rights once taken
From me by an imperial hand,
To be restored while earth is shaken
And wratii is falling on the land.

" Methinks I hear a voice like thunder.
Proclaiming that the time has come,
When yielding nations, tilled with wonder,
Will give me back my rightful home.

"I think I see a Prince arising,

Who will defend me with His life ;
Who, all my enemies surprising,
Will end this long and cruel strife."

CHAPTER XXI.

A TWO-HORNED BEAST.

AFTER the reminiscences of the last chapter,
Ecclesia and her friends met one day at the
home of Mr. Hatesham. At that meeting there were
present Mr. Braveheart, Mr. Littlefear, Mr. Hatesham
and his family, and Andronicus, besides the four at-
tendants who were always with her. At this meeting
they had a visit from two strangers. One of them
was a Hollander, named Vontresser, and the other was
a Frenchman named Richere. They were both ranked
among the heretics by the State Churches. They came
for the purpose of gaining information, and with a
desire to form an acquaintance with the other friends
of Ecclesia. These men were willingly received by
the company, and invited to make themselves at home
with them as long as they remained in the vicinity.

Mr. Deeming proposed that they should have the
benefit of one of the conversations on the teachings
of the book that they all loved so well. To this
proposition both of the strangers gladly consented. In
fact, at the mention of the book they seemed to be
greatly pleased. They had both heard the book read
in their own countries. But neither had ever had one
of his own.

Ecclesia read as follows : " And I beheld another
beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two
horns like a lamb, and he spake like a dragon.

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CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

" And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast
before him, . . . And he deceiveth them that dwell on
the earth, . . . that they shall make an inian^e to the
beast which had the wound by a sword and did live.
. . . And hecauseth all, both small and great, rich and
poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right
hand, and in their foreheads : and that no man
mit^ht buy or sell, save he that had the mark or
the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding;
count the nranber of the beast : for it is the number of
a man ; and his number is six hundred three score and
six." (Rev. xiii. 11-18.)

When Ecclesia stopped reading, the one who first
spoke was Love. She said, with much earnestness,
" I am so much disappointed. I thought that we were
done with those savage beasts. But here we have
another one of them. And though he does not seem
so terrible to look at as the dragon, or the ten-horned
beast, he seems to be just as real as either of them."

Faith replied, " We must not be doubtful if things
do not come as we would like to have them. All will
come right at the last."

" That is true," Hope answered, " and we may cheer
ourselves by looking to the things that are to be ours
in the future. We need not mourn over the past, nor
repine about the present."

Here Truth came forward, and said, "We must
make every allowance for Sister Love. She is not
strong like Faith, so that she can meet difficulties and
overcome i\em by force of character; and she is not
buoyant as Hope, so that she can lift herself above the
clouds and storms when trouble comes. She has oi'ttn
to do her work in the low grounds of sorrov.'^, and on
the depressed level of human sin and human suffer-
ing."

" That is v^ell stated," Mr. Deeming said. " But

A TWO-HORNED BEAST,

311

thoiip"lT Love is weak and tender, she will be at the
t'unei of Faith and Hope, for there will come a time
when Faith will be lost in sight, and Hope will end in
full fruition, but Love will live on forever."

Ecclesia said to the interpreter, " Can you make out
what this two-horned beast represents ? "

" I think so," he answered. " This beast differs from
the ten-horned beast in some ways, and yet he is like
him in some other ways. He is like him in that he is
a symbol of a system of persecution for religion. He
is like him in that he is in some way related to the
dragon, for he speaks with his voice. He is like the
first beast in that they both have a measured period
in which to exercise their authority, and do their
work. And they both have horns as the symbols of
their power."

" Well," said Mr. Hatesham, " will you tell wherein
the two beasts differ ? "

Mr. Deeming answered, " The first beast arose out of
the sea, this one comes out of the earth. The first one
had seven heads and ten horns, this one has one head
and two horns. The first f ne exercised a delegated
authority received from the dragon ; this one exercises
a usurped authority, taken partly from the first beast,
and partly from the woman clothed with the sun. The
first one came on the stage of action at a certain point
of the world's history ; this one did not make his
appearance till about one thousand years afterwards.
The number of the first beast was 1,260 years, the
number of this one is 666 years."

" There are striking differences, and there is not
much danger of mistaking one for the other," said the
Hollander.

" Do you think," inquired Truth, " that in both
cases the numbers are to be taken in the same way.
Is there not some mysterious meaning in the 666 not
found in the 1,260?"

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CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

" I can see no reason why prophetic numbers sho'ild
not be always understood in the same way, unless the
Divine Spirit intimates the contrary," was the reply.

" Have not some interpreters said that these figures
represent the letters that spell out the name of some
man ? " inquired Truth.

" Yes," said Mr. Deeming, " and others have said
that they represent the letters that spell Latin King-
dom, and others still make them represent the word
Latin Church.* But we saw the symbol of the Latin
Church in the woman on the scarlet-colored beast, and
we natned her Jezebel, f And we have seen the king-
dom of the Pope was symbolized by the star that fell
on the rivers and fountains of water under the third
trumpet."

The Frenchman here remarked that a late writer in
France had explained the 666 to mean the duration of
the kingdom of France.

Mr. Deeming replied, " By ingenious handling, the
numbers can be made to mean almost anything. If a
man sets out to find son>3 mystical hidden meaning in
these figures, he can find almost anything he wishes
for."

" You seem to think," said Truth, " the identity of
this beast is more important than the mystery of his
name."

" Yes," said Mr. Deeming. " We want to know what
he is and who he is, so that we may be able to esti-
mate him at his real value."

" How can we find him out ? " inquired Ecclesia.

* "Mr. Robertson says, the numerals in Latonus, Ludoivcus and
a hundred other names amount to 666. Others multiply or
divide the numbers or extract the square root of them ; and by
similar processes we may find 666 in any name that was ever
named among men."

+ The ten-horned beast symbolizes the Church and State, and
the woman on it represents the Latin Church,

A TWO-HORNED BEAST.

313

, was ever

Mr. Deeming answered, " By lookinpj at the marks
that have been put on him by the Holy Spirit. First,
he is a beast ; that represents some system that perse-
cutes for religious differences. Second, he comes up
out of the earth ; that means he originates in State
government. Third, though he is opposed to the first
beast, yet he causes the State to make an image of
him. Fourth, he has power to give life to the image ;
that is, he makes it an efficient force, and uses it as an
instrument in working out his plans. Fifth, he is
intolerant ; those must be killed who will not worship
the image of the beast, and he causes all to be dis-
franchised who have not the mark of the beast in their
hand or in their forehead, or who have not the name of
the beast or the number of his name. Sixth, he did
all this in the presence of the first beast without his
consent. And lastly, he is a compound of harmless
innocence and ferocious cruelty ; he looks like a lamb,
the symbol of innocence, but he speaks like a dragon,
the symbol of Pagan idolatry. He seems to be a
combination of good and bad, in which the good pre-
dominates."

WHAT SHALL WE CALL HIM?

Ecclesia said that she did not think she had ever
heard before that the two-horned beast was not a
friend and ally of the ten-horned one.

Mr. Deeming replied, '* That may be all true ; but
have you ever studied the character of this little
harmless-looking creature ? "

She said, " I have never been in a position to see
him in his worst moods, so that I have not learned
much of the bad that may be in him."

Mr. Deeming replied, " It is in his best moods that
he antagonizes the ten-horned beast, more than at any
other time ; in his worst moods he is so much like the
other beast that they might be taken for twin brothers,

314

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

only for the fact that the one has ten horns and the
other has only two, and the one has a woman on his
back and the other has not."

" Well," said Ecclesia, " what do you call this thing
that is so much like the first beast in some things, and
so unlike him in others ? "

" Protestant organizations in alliance with the State,
or Protestant State-Churchism," replied Mr. Deeming.

" That is a strong charge to make against the
reformed Churches, and it should be made only on
the clearest proof," said Truth.

" Let us see," said Mr. Deeming, " if these establish-
ments do not fill out the outline given of this beast. If
they do, they should be willing to look at their own
likeness, and they should not find fault with the hand
that paints it.

Mr. Braveheart said, " That is reasonable ; no one
should object to look at his own picture."

" Yes," said Ecclesia ; " but this is a startling state-
ment, and it diflfers so widely from the received
opinions of those who have written on the subject. We
thought it must, of necessity, be in some way con-
nected with Roman Catholicism. It is hard for me to
think that Protestantism, young as it is, has anything
in it that can ally it in any way with the symbols of
persecution seen in the apocalyptic visions."

Truth said, " If Protestantism is at fault, the respon-
sibility rests more upon its environments than upon
itself. We must not forget that human society is just
emerging from the darkness and superstitions of cen-
turies ; the world's midnight, it is true has passed
away. But behind it lingers many dark and thick
clouds, that hang, like the smoke of the lake of fire,
above the mountains and cast their shadows in the
valleys, shutting out the illuminating rays of much of
the light that is shining in the eastern sky. It is not
wonderful if they have made mistakes," )

A TWO-HORNED BEAST.

315

Mr. Deeming said, " I do not wi.sh to be at all
uncharitable towards any system or any of the
Churches ; but, as an honest seeker after tlie truth, I
cannot i^^nore what to me seem like important facts
and striking coincidences."

" Will you name some of these facts and coinci-
dences, so that we may weigh and compare them ? " said
Truth.

" Most willinjijly," replied the interpreter.

" To begin with, the beast came up out of the earth,
showing that he is a symbol of a system that has its
origin in the State government. The states of Europe
had been so long and so closely connected with the
Church tliat it had, with them, become an accepted
axiom that the State could not exist without the
Church, nor the Church without the State. But
these states had been so long under the tyrannical
control of the rider on the ten-horned beast, that they
shook her off and declared themselves free from her
rule. But the}' could not conceive it possible for the
State to be safe or prosperous without some kind of
connection with the Church, so they organized pro-
testing Churches under State control and dependent
on State patronage. That is what I mean by Protes-
tant State-Churchism."

Truth asked, " Do you think this is as bad as the
other instances in which the religion of a people is
upheld and enforced by statutory enactments?"

Mr. Deeming answered, "By no means. Paganism
and Mohammedanism are State religions in some
countries ; a corrupted and Paganized form of Chris-
tianity, with a sprinkling of Judaism in it, is the State
relioion of some other countries. But the relijxion of
the Protestants has very much more of truth and less
of error than these have ; still when in alliance with
the State, and when it is upheld and controlled by
secular authority, it becomes a part of a State-Church

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CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

system, and then it loses its right to he regarded as
the representative of pure and unmixed Christianity."

" Do you think," inquired Trutli, " that Christianity
will ever be permitted to have a plan for the quiet
enjoyment of its doctrines and its services, unless it is
in connection with some State government ? "

" Most assuredly," he replied. " The woman is not
always to stay in the wilderness. She will come out
of it some day, and then she will have the rights of
citizenship and liberty of conscience accorded to her
by the State ; not as an act of patronage, but as an act
of justice, and on the ground of equal rights to all
citizens an:il special favors to none."

Ecclesia had listened attentively to the conversation.
When Mr, Deeminp" halted, she commenced singing as
if to herself :

" I would rejoice if I could know

The dawning of that day is near,
When God will all my foes o'erthrow

And make mj^ future pathway clear.
Then I could stand before the world

Regardless of its taunts and jeers ;
Then would Love's banner be unfurled

And truth would fall on willing ears."

" That time is not far distant now," said the inter-
preter, with a glowing face on which a complacent
smile rested. "I feel," he continued, "the day of
deliverance is near, and I believe the man is already
in the world who will call the Church out of the
wilderness."

" What do yon think is meant by this two-horned
beast speaking like a dragon ? " asked Truth.

Mr. Deeming answered, " He speaks like a dragon
when he sends out his orders and proclaims his
statutes, with the high sanction and secular authority
of the State. In the rearing or the Protestant estab-
lishment but little was done b^ the people or the

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A TWO-HORNED BEAST.

317

clergy ; but mostly everything was done by the State
governments."

" Why is this two-horned beast said to be like a
lamb, even though he speaks like a dragon ? " inquired
Truth.

Answer by Mr. Deeming: "This beast has more of
the lamb in his constitution than any of his associates.
By receiving and maintaining evangelical doctrines he
may be said to look like a lamb. But when these
doctrines are embodied in creeds, that are made bind-
ing by State enactments, they are like streams issuing
from the mouth of the dragon. Nevertheless these
waters produce in those that receive them much of
the evangelical meekness and holy dispositions of the
lamb."

" Why is it said that he exercised the power of the
first beast ? " asked Truth.

Mr. Deeming answered, " By the Acts of Supremacy
and other laws the Protestant nations have deprived
the Pope of all power in their dominions. And what
they took from him they have given to their own civil
rulers.*

"And in all other Protestant states this two-horned
beast usurped and exercised all the power and
authority of the first beast."

Truth again inquired, " What is meant by his mak-
ing an image of the first beast ? "

Mr. Deeming answered, " What is the Lutheran
doctrine of consubstantiation, but an image of the
Roman transubstantiation ? What is the English and
otiier Protestant hierarchies but an imajre of the

* '.r.l i.<^ might be largely illustrated from the laws of Henry
VI II. ami Queen Elizabeth, who exercised more complete lord-
ship over the consciences of men than ever the Pope did in
England. Therefore the Church of England speaks with the
imperious voice of the secular government, and scarcely ever
speaks but through the throat of the dragon.

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CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

Roman ? And the image has a striking likeness to the
ten-horned beast in its Acts of Uniformity, and severe
persecutions of all Nonconformists. The image has a
resemblance to the original in the enforcing of patron-
age and tithes, in dividing the land into parishes for
gain, and maintaining the connection between Church
and State, and the magistrates' power in religious mat-
ters. Oh, yes ! this image is so artistically made that
any one who has seen the original will have no
difficulty in discovering a striking resemblance be-
tween the genuine article and the imitation."

" It is said that as many as would not worship the
image of the beast should be killed. What does that
mean ? " asked Truth.

He answered, " The term worship, r.s used here, does
not seem to mean religious worship, such as is due to
the Supreme Being. But it means to venerate with
religious rites, to pay civil reverence to, to treat with
highest respect. This beast is a persecutor of the
saints. He not only excluded dissenters from buying
or selling, thus depriving them of civil rights, but he
put some to death."

We select a few instances in confirmation of this
statement. Michael Servetus was put to death at
Geneva, in 1553 ; Valentine Gentilis was beheaded at
Berne, for heresies in 156G ; one Felix, an Anabaptist,
was put to death by drowning at Zurich, in 1526; in
1571, John Sylvester, a superintendent of a church at
Heidelberg, being accused of Arianism, was put to death
by the Elector Palatine.*

The Socinians, the Roman Catholics and the Ana-
baptists were all persecuted, and much of the Ana-
baptist blood was shed in the Lutheran states. In
Holland they suffered imprisonment, banishment and
death. Although the government was a republic, and

* Rev. D. Robertson, of Kilmaurs.

A TWO-HOEXED BEAST.

819

the State religion Presbyterian, the right of conscience
was not fully understood in Holland in those days.
The constitution of that country tolerated the Roman
Catholics, the Lutherans and some other Protestants,
but this toleration was only a partial one.

When the Arminians arose, the toleration laws of
Holland could not protect them. The three chief
leaders of the sect, Oldenbarnevelt, Grotius and
Hogerbeet, were imprisoned. The Synod of Dort, in
1618, found them guilty of heresy, and excluded their
clergy from the Church, and asked the Stadtholder
and other magistrates to execute the decrees of the
synod. No sooner was the synod over than Olden-
barnevelt was taken from the dungeon to the public
scaffold, and there beheaded. Grotius and Hogerbeet
were condemned to perpetual imprisonment.

" Did all the Protestant states agree in this spirit of
persecution ? " inquired Truth.

" Yes," said Mr. Deeming. " The Dutch had risen
above other nations of that day in understanding and
realizing civil and religious liberty ; but they were far
below what the law of Christ enjoins, and the rights
of conscience demand. Holland was then possessed by
the tv/o-horned beast. And there, as in all other
places, he spoke as the dragon, and punished all
who would not worship the image of the former beast
which he had set up."

" What was the condition of things in other coun-
tries ? Did the two-horned beast speak like a dragon
in every place ? Was, and is he the same every
where ? " inquired Truth.

"The same everywhere," answered Mr. Deeming.
" No sooner had he made his appearance in England,
and in the person of Henry VIII. usurped the power of
the first beast, than he began to speak as the dragon,
and to imitate the first beast by putting heretics to
death. It is even said that Henry burnt Papists and
dissenting Protestants both in the same fire.

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'■:«» '

"Archbishop Cranmer, who wa.s afterwards burned at
Smithfield, had a hand in the condemnation of John
Lambert, and consented to the death of Ann Askew,
both of whom were burnt in the flames.

" Under the bloody Mary the ten-horned beast return-
ed to England. She burnt Cranmer, Ridley and others.

" But under Elizabeth, the two-horned beast, like a
lamb, supplanted him again. She set up the image
again in the Act of Uniformity, and proceeded to perse-
cute all who would not worship it. Thirty-seven of
the clergy were suspended for refusal, and a hundred
more in 1572 for the same crime. Eleven Dutchmen
were condemned to the fire as Anabaptists ; nine of
them had their sentence changed to banishment, and
the other two were burnt. And two Puritan ministers,
Thacking and Copper, were hanged for nonconformity.

" In the reign of Charles II. it is said that not less
than eighteen thousand Scotch Presbyterians suffered
death or banishment for denying the authority of the
bishops and the headship of the king over the
Church."

Mr. Braveheart said, in regard to the name and
number of this beast, " What is the difference between
having the mark of the beast, or the name of the beast,
or the number of his np me ? "

Mr. Deeming replied, " Those who have the mark of
the beast are the sincere and conscientious friends of
the system, and who cannot believe that anything
good can be found among dissenters, and who would
be willing to risk everything, even life itself, to hunt
heretics from the cctrtL , who would shut heaven
against their souls, and exclude their bodies from con-
secrated graveyards. They are those who will go
through thick and thin for Church and State, for tithes
and taxes.

" Those who have the name of the beast are those
who care but little for religion of any kind, but who

i%ss:

A TWO-HORNED BEAST.

321

adopt the name of this or that State Church for the sake
of prestige, and because they do not want to be called
heathen. But one Church would do them as well as
another, if it was only respectable and influential.

" Those who have the number of his name are the
adherents who are not in Church connexion. They
care but little for either the doctrines or practices of
the Church. They only care for the number of its
name, that is, they want to know whether its name
stands first or second or third or fourth on the list of
Churches in the community. They want to know its
relative standing in public estimation. These people
will hardly ever be found adhering to a Church whose
name is below number two in the town or city.

" The number of the beast is the length of time that
he will exist, but the number of his name means t\e
relative position of the State Church as compared with
other denominations. The number of the beast is the
number of a man, I understand that to mean that as
the years of a man's life are numbered from his birth
to his death, so Q6Q years is the measure of the exis-
tence of this two-horned beast. What I mean is, the
number of his name is a relative idea, and refers to his
position among other Churches; but the number of the
beast himself is a positive idea, and refers to his
duration."

" That being the case," said the Frenchman, " would
it not be possible to tell just when this beast will come
to an end, or rather, when the system that he repre-
sents will end ? "

" As to that," said Mr. Deeming, " we might, if we
had the exact date when he commenced his existence,
be able to tell when he would come to an end ; but it
would be unsafe, perhaps, to fix on any particular
time." *

* It seems that Albert, Duke of Prussia, established Luther-
anisra in his domains A.D. 1526, and Augustus I. of Sweden

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Siu:

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" Will the two beasts end their days at the same
time, or will the two-horned one outlive the other, and
the older one ? " inquired Vantressor.

" They will both die together," replied the inter-
preter. " When the system of State-Cliurchism ceases,
these symbols will lose their significance, and will be
destroyed with the other enemies of Christianity."

"Do you think, then, that both of these beasts
represent the same system, only under different con-
ditions and with different environments ? " asked the
Hollander.

" That is what I think," replied Mr. Deeming. " The
experience of your own countrymen, as well as that of
other people, might go far towards settling that ques-
tion. Have they not both been persecutors of those
who differed from them in religious doctrines and in
church polity? And was there any difference in the
severity of death or imprisonment between Catholics
or Protestants ? Did not the same system manifest
itself in both establishments ? In both cases was it not
spiritual tyranny enforcing its dictates by the sword of
a secular despotism or, at least, by an obsequious civil
government ? And has not the same spirit been
exhibited in all these persecutions, whether they were
ordered by a Pope, or an Archbishop, or a Presbyter ?
The work done is the same by both parties."

" Do we understand, then, that the woman will have
to remain in the wilderness until the final destruction
of both of the beasts ? " inquired the Frenchman.

" Not at all," replied the interpreter. " The first
beast is to hold control and rule for forty and two
months ; that is, three years and a half, or 1,260 days,

made it the religion of his country A.D. 1528 ; and in 1533 it
was established in Denmark by Christian III. ; and in 1536 Pro-
testantism was established in the half of Germany, and Queen
Elizabeth established the Church of England about 1664. (" His-
torical Chart.")

A TWO-HORNED BEAST.

323

meaning the whole time that the woman is in the wil-
derness; and it is because of his ruling that she remains
so long in her seclusion. What I mean to say is this,
the system of State-Churchism that was iirst sym-
bolized by the rider on the pale or roan horse, and
then by the ten-horned beast alone, and latterly by
the two beasts conjointly, was to have power to sway
and determine the civil and religious destinies of
Christendom for the period of 1,2()0 years. The ten-
horned beast lived before he had supreme control, and
he will live after he is deprived of this control. The
two-horned beast began to live when first the Protes-
tant Church formed an alliance with, and became
established by, the State. It did not commence its
existence at the same time with the other beast ; but
they will both be present at each other's death, and
they will end their days together on the bloody field
of Armageddon."

" You seem to think," said Truth, " that the general
course of events will be in the direction of increasing
liberty of conscience and of individual freedom of
action, until the time of complete and permanent
emancipation from the dragon and the two beasts, and
all the other enemies that have come within the range
of our studies."

" I sincerely wish that time was already come, so
that our beloved mistress could once more stand
before the nations as the recognized Bride of the King,
the real queen of the kingdom," Love exclaimed.

" Our sister Love is so anxious that she forgets her
usual g-ood manners bv breaking in before Mr. Deem-
ing had time to answer Truth's question," said Hope,
good-naturedly.

" Oh, I beg pardon, I forgot myself," Love said, with
some confusion.

" It is all right," said Mr. Deeming ; " and in answer
to the question, there may be slight reactions, and the

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CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

ten-horned beast may, and very likely will, make
every attempt possible to regain its lost prestige and
power ; and I am aware that the Jesuits will leave no
stone unturned to accomplish this, but their e " '
will finally prove of no avail."

']'•'■

vjt: :T,i

CHAPTER XXII.

LONG YEARS OF MYSTERY.

ONE morninfr, as the September sun was climbing
above the mountain peaks, and casting weird-
looking shadows in the valleys below, Ecclesia and
her friends were aswsembled in an antiquated building
which had survived the destroying influences that so
often swept the valleys of Piedmont, levelling many a
more pretentious structure, and leaving a track of
desolation behind them to tell the tale of cruel perse-
cutions during the world's dark midnight. The old
church stood under the shadow of the mountain ledge,
that reared its craggy head above the weather-beaten
spire, that had pointed ten or twelve generations of
so-called heretics to the land where popes and prelates
cease to trouble those who are not of their own per-
suasion. Tall forest trees spread their branches above
the eaves, and the woodbine and the ivy climbed its
sides, and met and clasped hands across the summit.
Mosses and lichens covered the walls in many places,
and rust had gathered in thick layers on its locks and
hinges.

The old church had been the scene of not a few
events of more or less importance to the dwellers in
the locality. But these we must not dwell upon at
present,

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CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

I ■

7 .i I"

V. m

Ecclesia commenced the conversation by saying to
Mr. Deeming, " I have been looking up some passages
that I would like to have your opinion on. They
are not found together in one place, but still they
seem to be in some way connected. Shall I read them
for you ? "

" You may do so, and we will see what they are,
and what we can do by way of explaining them," was
the reply.

She commenced to read from the book of Daniel,
" And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be
taken away, and the abomination that maketh deso-
late set up, there shall be a thousand and two hundred
and ninety days." (Dan. xii. 11.)

And again, "But the court, which is without the
temple, leave out and measure it not ; for it is given
unto the Gentiles, and the holy city shall they
trample under foot forty and two months." (Rev.
xi. 2.)

"And I will give power to my two witnesses, and
they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and
three score days, clothed in sackcloth." (Rev. xi. 3.)

"And the woman fled unto the wilderness, where
she had a place prepared of God, that they should
feed her there a thousand two hundred and three
score days." (Rev. xii. 6.)

"And to the woman were given two wings of a
great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into
her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times,
and half a time, from the face of the serpent." (Kev.
xii. 14.)

" What I would like to know," said Ecclesia, " is
this, do all these passages refer to one period of
twelve hundred and sixty years, or are there more
than one such period of time spoken of in the pro-
phecies ? "

Mr. Deeming answered, " I am of the opinion that

LONG YEARS OF MYSTERY.

327

that

these all run over the same period of time. And I
think that tlie time, times, and the dividing of time,
that measures the duration of the power symholized
by the little horn of Daniel's prophecy, runs over a
great part of the same period. The reign of the Pope,
as a temporal ruler, commenced later than the woman's
flight into the wilderness, and will last till after her
return. But the two facts synchronize for more than
a thousand years; and it may well be said, that
period is a time of mysteries."

" What is meant by the takings away of the daily
sacrifice, spoken of by Daniel the prophet ?" inquired
Truth.

" There appears to be two distinct takings away of
the daily sacrifice spoken of by Daniel. One seems to
refer to the suppression of the Jewish worship in the
temple at Jerusalem by Antiochus Epiphanes, when
he ' sold the High Priesthood to the highest bidder,
captured Jerusalem by assault, gave it up to pillage
and massacre, polluted the temple in the most shame-
ful manner, and stripped it of its treasures to the
amount of 1,800 talents.'* That would weigh 167,469
pounds avoirdupois, and, in gold, it would be worth
about 612,000 pounds sterling, or over two and three-
fourth millions of dollars. This occurred B.C. 170.
This was to continue for two thousand three hundred
evenings and mornings, or natural days, then the
sanctuary was to be cleansed. This seems to have
been done by Judas Maccabeus, who ' regained Jeru-
salem, cleansed the temple and restored the services,
B.C. 164.' I take this to be the fulfilment of the pro-
phecy about the daily sacrifice in the eighth chapter
of Daniel."

" What do you make of the taking away of the
daily sacrifice spoken of in the twelfth chapter ? "
inquired Truth.

*McCabe's "History of All Nations."

328

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

m !';

: I ' ■

" I think," said Mr. Deeming, " that is the .starting
point for the 1,290 days of Daniel and the 1,200 days
of Revelation."

" Do you think this prediction referred to the de-
struction of the temple and the overthrow of the
Jewish system of worship, by the Romans ? " inquired
Ecclesia.

Mr. Deeming answered, " I do not think that it has
anything to do with tliat, except as an allusion by
way of illustration. The Jewish Church was suc-
ceeded by the Church of Christ. To the Jew, the
offering of sacrifices in the temple was the central idea
of his religion ; and to take away the daily offerings
was to him taking the life out of the whole system of
worship.

" To the Christian, the central idea of his daily
offerings of prayer and praise is holiness to the Lord,
producing in him the fruits of good living.

" To the Jew, the only place of acceptable worship
was in Jerusalem. To the Cliristian, acceptable wor-
ship can be offered anywhere ; fbr ' God is a Spirit,
and they who worship Him acceptably must worship
Him in Spirit and in truth.' "

" Yes," put in Ecclesia, " that is so ; for I have heard
that he once said to a woman of Samaria, that the
hour Cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers
shall worship the Father in Spirit and in truth, for the
Father seeketh such to worship him."

" As the symbol of the divine presence was the
glory of the tabernacle and the temple," said Mr.
Deeming, " so the Holy Spirit leading and energizing
Christian worship makes any place a temple and an
altar, where daily sacrifices may be offered to the Father
through the Son."

" But where the Holy Ghost is not present the pre-
tended worship will be like a skeleton, without life or
beauty ; for forms and ceremonies are not Christian

l-iS!

LONG YEARS OF MYSTERY.

329

rting
days

e de-
: the
uired

it has
)n by
suc-
w, the
il idea
erings
bem of

daily
i Lord,

orship
wor-
Spirit,
worship

heard
lat the
lippers
for the

as
id

the
Mr.

and an
Father

he pre-
, life or
ristian

worship, any more than gold and costly apparel are the
soul of the man who wears them."

"You spoke," said Truth, "of a taking away of the
daily sacrifice, other than the one already explained.
What do you understand that to be ? "

Mr. Deeming replied, " I was just leading up to that
question. Among the Jews the daily sacritice was a
burnt-offering of two lambs every day, morning and

evenincf. According to the Jews' belief the

mornnii'

sacrifice made atonement for the sins committed in the
night, and the evening sacrifice expiated the sins of the
day. This was a daily acknowledgment of the need of
an atonement by the pious Jew. To take away this
sacrifice would be to remove the atonement for the
sins of daily life.

" The iambs symbolize the atonement by the death
of Christ, through which the Christian not only obtains
the forgiveness of sins that have been committed. Vnt
also receives grace to help him to live right and to hold
on to thai whereunto he has attained."

"Well." said Truth, "if the prophet Daniel in the
twelfth chapter does not refer to the daily sacrifice in
the Jewish temple, to what does he refer ?"

" That it could not refer to the destruction of the
temple by the Romans is evident from this fact : the
Jewish sacrifices were all rejected by God after the
death of Christ, and their whole system of worship was
superseded by the Christian religion and its services
and ordinances. And more than this, the prophecy
seems to speak of a time some years after Jerusalem
was in ruins. Besides, when the daily sacrifice was
taken away something else was set up in its place,
called the 'abomination that maketh desolate.' But
the Romans destroyed the temple and its services, and
they left nothing in its place."

" You think, then, that this prophecy is intended to

330

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

apply to something in connection with the Christian
Church ? " said Truth.

" Certainly 1 do," replied Mr, Deeming ; " I think
that the taking away of the daily sacrifice, the measur-
ing of the temple, and the leaving out the court of the
Gentiles, all refer to the Christian Church, and that
they are illustrated by these allusions to the Jewish
system of worship. The daily sacrifice was taken
away when the Church left the simplicity of a purely
spiritual worship for the more imposing ceremonies of
a Paganized system. The abomination that maketh
desolate was set up when the Emperor of Rome put
himself at the head of the Church. The Christian
temple was measured when God applied the measuring
line of truth, and found the secularized system want-
ing, and separated from it, true, unadulterated Chris-
tianity, and closed the doors of the Christian temple
against all corrupted forms of religious teaching and
worship. And because God would not allow these
false systems to come into the temple of truth, the
State governments forbad the people to enter that
temple, and for twelve hundred and sixty years the
nations had to content themselves with what they
could get of religious truth in the outer court of the
Gentiles, where it was trodden under foot. And this
abomination, standing where it ought not, soon made
the Church of God the spiritual Jeru. alom, to be
a lonely wanderer in the wilderness."

" You seem to think the court of the Gentiles, where
the holy city, or spiritual Jerusalem, is trodden down,
are Paganized systems, found in the State Churches,
where more is made of forms and ceremonies than of
true worship ? " said Truth.

"Yes," said he, "by rejecting the doctrines and
practices of pure Christianity and spiritual worship,
they may be said to tread the holy city, the true
Church, under their feet."

WIS

LONG YEARS OF MYSTERY.

331

When Mr. Deeming ceased speaking, Ecelesia and
her niaiflens coimnenced to sincr the t'ollowinir im-
proniptu lines :

"Wliat foolish fancies fill tlie brains
Of men who will not have the truth,
Who falsehoods force on age and youth
By cruel penalties and pains.

"In vain historic pages glow
With instances of hopeless tiL'ht,
Where wrong has sought to crush the right,
And truth divine to overthrow.

"False systems shall at last give way,
And truth and righteousness shall stand
With banners spread o'er every laud,
And hail the bright millennial day."

where

down,

lurches,

than of

s and

THE TWO WITNESSES.

Truth said to the interpreter, " What do you under-
stand by the witnesses prophesying in sackcloth ? "

Mr. Deeming replied, " Sackcloth is an emblem of
sadness, distress, mourning, mortification and anguish.
'J'o prophesy in sackcloth means to testify to the truth
in sadness of heart, and under the most trying and dis-
courafxinjx circumstances. To stand for the rio;ht, as
Elijah and Daniel did, when whole nations were op-
posed to them, would be prophesying in sackcloth.
This is what the witnesses are said to do for twelve
hundred and sixty days."

" Who or what were the witnesses?" inquired Truth.

" I think," said Mr. Deeming, " that the two wit-
nesses mean water baptism and the blood of the mar-
tyrs. John in his epistle tells us that there are three
that bear witness on the earth : the spirit, the water,
and the blood. (1 John v. 8).

" The Spirit bears witness to the believer himself, of
his sonship and heirship ; but the water of baptism

332

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

testifies to the world that the subject is a professed
Christian ; and the blood of the martyrs testifies to the
faith, and fortitude, and sincerity of the professed
followers of Christ.

" To prophesy in sackcloth may also refer to the
seclusion and obscurity of the Church during its abode
in the wilderness ; and I think that the same power
that protected the woman in the wilderness, kept the
witnesses alive during the term of their obscurity."

" It is said that these have power to shut heaven
that it rain not, and to turn the waters into blood, and
to smite the earth with every plague. What does this
mean ?" inquired Truth.

Mr. Deeming replied, " We must not forget that
heaven means the ecclesiastical realm, or society under
ecclesiastical rule. Rain is a symbol of spiritual bless-
ings on the earth, as water baptism is a sign of spiri-
tual grace, or blessing, to the individual. The earth
. means civil society, and the meaning here seems to be
that the truths presented by these witnesses which
were accompanied by spiritual blessings, failed to reach
civil society. Genuine Christianity having been driven
from the State Churches, they could not bestow or con-
vey spiritual good to the nations ; and civil govern-
ments having formed an unholy alliance with the
State Churches, the true witnesses and the lessons they
taught, were rejected — hence the nations suffered
for want of the spiritual infiuences symbolized by
rain.

THE W1TNJ..>SES KILLED.

Truth again inquired, "How can th'^y turn the
waters into blood, and sinite the earth with plagues ? "

Mr. Deeming replied, " The two witnesses are given
a personality here to show that they have a connection
with human society, and that their infiuence on it is
just as real as the influence of Moses and Aaron was
in bringing the plagues upon Egypt.

LONG YEARS OF MYSTERY.

333

the

" We have said before, that rivers and fountains of
water mean religious teachings. When false teach-
ings and doctrines are substituted for the true, it is like
turnincj water into blood When these witnesses were
driven out of any country, they left the inhabitants
without the pure doctrines and teachings of the Gos-
pel, and left them to drink from the polluted foun-
tains of corrupt and dangerous teaching, that may
aptly be compared to water turned into blood. And
from this condition of things, it is easy to see that spiri-
tual disease, and famine, and death would plague the
nations, as the result of the two witnesses ceasing to
testify among the people."

" What is meant by the killing of the witnesses ?
How could water and blood bo killed ?" asked Truth.

Mr. Deeming replied, " I think that in this case the
abstract is put for the concrete. The witnesses are
water and blood, and these may be said to testify to
certain facts in connection with those concerned in the
case. They testify for Christ and his true followers;
they testify against all manner of false teaching and
corrupt practices in the name of religion ; and they
testify to the governments and people found in the
countries where they are permitted to have a hearing.
They do this by and through the persons of those who
by baptism publicly profess faith in Christ, and who,
by a willingness to go to a martyr's death sooner than
to give up the truth that has made them free, give to
the world the most striking proof of their sincerity.

" Now, a person may cease to live for certain pur-
poses, and still not be dead absolutely — for instance, a
man may die officially, or he may cease to live as a
politician, and yet he may be alive as a man. In com-
mon life, to kill a witness does not necessarily mean to
take away his life, but to destroy the force of his
testimonj''. This may be done by suppressing it, or by
proving it be of a doubtful character, or by refusing
to listen to it.

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334

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'|fe:|

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" These witnesses did not die or refuse to testify,
but they finished their testimony, and then the beast
overcame them and killed them, not absolutely, but as
witnesses. This he did, partly by suppressing their
testimony and partly by refusing to listen to it."

" At what time do you think this killing will take
place, or has it already been done ? " asked Ecclesia,
with great earnestness.

The interpreter replied, " My opinion is, that the
killing of the witnesses is not now very far in the
future. The beast is to reign among the nations
forty-two months. The outer court of the temple and
the holy city are to be trampled under foot forty-two
months. The woman is to be in the wilderness twelve
hundred and sixty days, and the witnesses in sackcloth
for the same length of time. These are all equal
periods, and they begin and end together, or nearly so.

" The holy city will continue after the trampling
under foot is ended. The beast will live on after the
period of his ruling the nations has terminated. The
woman will come out of the wilderness, and live on in
future ao-es. And the witnesses will be raised to life
again, and continue to testify to the truths of Chris-
tianity until the end of time. Baptism by water will
continue in use. And although the blood of martyrs
will cease to flow, yet it will speak, in tones of thunder,
on the pages of history all down the ages. In this
way the witnesses will continue to prophesy of better
things to come, and testify to the truth as it is in
Jesus ; but they will continue no longer to be in sack-
cloth."

" What will be the method adopted in the killing of
the witnesses ? " inquired Truth.

" The beast will make one last and desperate effort
to crush out all evangelical teaching, and to destroy
all who do not agree with him. In doing this, he
will excite such a turmoil and get up such strife and

LONG YEARS OF MYSTERY.

335

confusion among the nations, that the voice of the wit-
nesses will be unheard ; or what will amount to the
same thinof, it will be unheeded."

Mr. Deeming replied, " Martyr-blood will still flow,
but it will be so intermingled with the blood of the
soldier, that in their mad fury, the nations will not
hear or heed its testimony. In this way the witnesses
will be killed, so far as bearing testimony is concerned ;
though their forms or bodies will still be seen in the
streets, or public ways of the great city, where the
nations look upon their dead bodies and refuse to allow
them to be buried out of their sight. That is, they still
wanted the presence of the witnesses, even though they
heeded not their voices. The last years of f.he reign of
the beast wnll be marked by the terrible bitterness
with which he shall persecute the woman and seek to
destroy her friends, and to kill the two faithful
witnesses who have been her allies in all the gloomy
period of her sojourn in the wilderness. He will kill
the two witnesses but they will come back to life in
time to take their place in the procession that will
accompany the woman when she comes from her lonely
place of obscurity."

" What is meant by the city in the streets of wdiich
the bodies of the two witnesses lie unburied ? " again
inquired Truth.

Mr. Deeming answered, "The city alluded to is
Rome. But the freedom of citizenship was frequently
extended to other cities in the empire. The city of
Tarsus, where St. Paul w^as born, was one of these.
And all the inhabitants of these cities were entitled to
certain privileges and securities not granted to others.
But as these freed cities paid extra taxes, their num-
bers were increased by the emperors, until at last
Caracal la, who sat on the imperial throne from A.D.
212 till A.D. 217, extended the privileges and the
ta,xes of Roman citizenship to all the inhabitants of

ifi

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CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

the empire. And from the edict of Caracalla the city
continued in a legal sense of the same extent as the
Roman territories.* The city is called Egypt, because
of its idolatries ; and Sodom, because of its gross
wickedness ; and Jerusalem, or the place where the
Lord was crucified, because of its persecuting spirit.

"And the peoples, and tribes, and tongues, and
nations that look upon their dead bodies mean the
inhabitants of the Roman empire ; and the merrymak-
ing and rejoicing that took place means the gladness
that filled the rulers and members of the State
Churches at a time dissenters were supposed to be put
down everywhere."

THE TEST OF HISTORY AGAIN.

We will try Mr. Deeming's interpretations by an
appeal to the facts of history once more.

The tenth persecution of the Christians under the
Pagan emperors of Rome was the most severe and
cruel of any that ever took place under Pagan Rome.
The dragon seemed to throw all his energies into one
last great effort to exterminate Christianity, and to
stamp out of existence the cause of the Redeemer in
the world ; but finding himself foiled in this attempt,
he found an ally in the ten-horned beast of the sea,
and they together fought against the woman until she
fled to the wilderness. Still the beast followed her,
after the dragon tried to destroy her by the flood of
false doctrines that he cast out of his mouth ; and,
" like a staunch murderer, steady to his purpose," the
beast hounded her footsteps through the centuries for
1,260 years. During these years the witnesses pro-
phesy in sackcloth, and toward the end of these years
the two-horned beast of the earth makes his appear-

* Robertson, of Kilmaur.

LONG YEARS OF MYSTERY.

387

the

ance and commences to imitate the ten-horned one ;
and though they confess to no alliance, yet they do
the same kind of work This makes the situation of
the woman more trying, and the position of witnesses
more critical.

As the time of the reign of the ten-horned beast
grew short, his rage increased ; and the closing years
of the 1,2G0 were marked by the most bitter and gen-
eral persecutions. The Catholics persecuted the Pro-
testants, and the Protestants persecuted those who
dissented from the established Churches. We know
the Romish Church was always a persecuting Church ;
and from the time that Queen Elizabeth established
the Anglican Church, A.D. 15G4, till the Revolution of
1688, the English Church was a persecuting Church in
Britain, and the Lutherans in Germany, and the Pres-
byterians in Holland were not free from the charge
of shedding martyr blood. But at the time of the
Revolution, the right to kill f^r conscience' sake ceased
to be exercised, in public at least. Since then the foul
spirit that thirsts for martyr blood has been shut up
in secret places, where it has been nourished in the
dark by bigoted priests and plotting Jesuits.

Let us look at a few of the facts recorded in history.
In 1685, Louis XIV. of France revoked the Edict of
Nantes, which was promulgated by Henry IV. in
1598, giving freedom of conscience to the Huguenots in
France. The result of this act was to send out of
France from five to eight hundred thousand of the
best of its citizens. Previous to this the Jesuits had
taken advantage of the infatuation of the king for
Madame de Maintenon, whom he wished to marry,
after the death of Maria Theresa. Assisted by the
king's confessor, who was a Jesuit, she induced " Louis
to let loose upon his Huguenot subjects, all the horrors
that bigotry could devise or a fiendish cruelty exe-
cute Every avocation was closed to them, so

338

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

t:^fi2t-

that they were given the alternative of abjuring their
faith or starving. ... It was generally understood
that a Huguenot had no claims to the protection of
law. . . . Children were torn from their parents to be
brought up Catholics. ... A refusal to abjure the
Protestant faith was invariably followed by death or
imprisonment." * These people were forbidden to
leave the kingdom, on pain of confiscation of their
property and penal servitude. The persecution was
so severe, that the reformed fled from France by thou-
sands. Many of them were shot down by the soldiers
while trying to escape, and many others were captured
and sent to the galleys, and Jesuit chaplains were
appointed over them. In September, 1G85, Louvois
wrote to the king that by the end of the month there
would not be ten thousand Huguenots in the District
of Bordeaux, where there had been one hundred and
fifty thousand at the middle of August.

In 1685 a popish prince succeeded to the Palatinate,
which had been one of the greatest of the of Protes-
tant states of Europe. But from that time it became
one of the weakest states in Germany.

In 1685 and 1686 the Waldenses in the valleys of
Piedmont were nearly exterminated. They had
remained faithful when all the world wandered after
the beast, and had borne testimony as undismayed
witnesses for God, in the face of wrathful men.-f-

These inoffensive and devoted people were attacked
by their temporal ruler, the Duke of Savoy, in a most
furious and relentless manner. Urged on by the
Jesuits and the king of France, he made the most-
desperate attempt to blot them out of existence and
to sweep them from the face of the earth. Three

* ' ' Pictorial History of the World . '

t Robertson, of Kilmaur. »

LONG YEARS OF MYSTERY.

889

thousand of them were murdered ; ten thousand were
crowded into a few prisons, where many of them died.
Two thousand children were taken to be dedicated to
Popish idols, and brou,L,'ht up as Papists. Through the
interposition of the Swiss government, the imprisoned
ones were liberated, on the condition that ihey would
immediately leave the country. The ground was
covered with ice and snow ; one hundred and fifty of
those who came from one prison died the first night
after setting out. Not more than one-fourth of those
who had been imprisoned survived to reach Switzer-
land, where they were received with brotherly kind-
ness.

The witnesses were slain in the valleys of Piedmont
as well as in France and the Palatinate. And if we
look to the British Islands, we shall find that the same
year, viz., 108^), strong efforts were made there too, to
hush the voice of truth, by killing the witnesses. In
that year the Duke of York came to the throne of
England and Scotland. He at once commenced to
crush the reformed religion in England, and hunt down
the Presbyterians in the Highlands of Scotland, who
disdained to acknowledge his ri<j:ht to dictate in
matters of conscience. These people, along with the
English dissenters, had been refusing to give their con-
sciences into the keeping of any man, be he priest or
prelate, pope or monarch. And James declared that
things would never be w*ell until the whole west of
Scotland was turned into a hunting ground.

When we look at the condition of things in France,
Piedmont, Holland, Germany, England and Scotland,
from the year 1685 until 1688 and 1690, we risk but
little in saying that this was the time that the
witnesses lay dead in the streets, or broad places of the
city.

James came to the throne in the spring of 1685.
On the 5th of November, 1688, the Prince of Orange

.1 • I

CLOTH KlJ WITH THE SUN.

landed in Encjland. Tlie events of the British Revo-
lution followed in quick succession. Tlie witnesses
are now raised to life again, and since then they are
not clothed in sackcloth. The door of the tem]ile of
Christian worship was then opened ; the holy city has
not been trampled under foot ; the reign of the ten-
horned beast then ceased, and the woman came out of
the wilderness. The tenth part of the city fell during
a great earthquake, or shaking of the kingdoms of
Europe. And the seventh trumpet sounded as the
signal for the first vial to be poured out, and the third
woe commenced, which will find its completion in the
binding of the dragon for a thousand years, and the
utter and final destruction of the beasts or State-
Churchism, and the false prophet or Mohammedanism.
So let it be.

f'j li

CHAPTER XXIII.

CALLED FROM THE WILDERNESS.

L'i

i i

ONE day, in the early morning, Ecclesia and her
friends found themselves at the foot of a moun-
tain, and at a distance from any human habitation.
Overhanging ledges cast their shadows upon the
ground around them, and gave them shelter from the
rays of the midday sun.

Not far from where they stood was a relic of by-
gone days. It was an old ruin of what had apparently
been a Druid temple ; and as they approached it, a
feeling of sad solemnity came over them. As they
looked at the rude structure, they saw that it bore no
traces of architectural symmetry and beauty. There
was nothing in what they saw to awaken either
thought or emotion ; but in the associations of the place
there was some food for thought, and something that
was calculated to stir the sensibilities.

Mr. Deeming seeing the surprised look of his com-
panions, said to them, " The men who piled up this
rude, unsightly structure have long since passed away;
but some of their works and traditions still linger, and,
like the fragments of a departing cloud, they cast a
shade upon the minds of thousands. Here the people
may have kindled their fires and performed their mystic
rites of Hallowe'en ; here they watched and waited for

li^ !

ill I

$ I

n I

..ff

« r ■■' '

1 iSi,

342

CLOTUKD WITU THE SUN.

the coming of the fairies and tlieir king, ' Phooka,* as
he rode upon the wind and played havoc in all direc-
tions ; and here too, very likely, human sacriHces were
ottered as a part of religious worship."

Love here spoke, and asked if the Druids took
human life as a religious rite.

Truth replied, " History tells us that they did."

" Well," said Love, " that was dreadful. What could
have led them into such a cruel practice ? "

Mr. Deeming answered, "Among many nations there
has been a belief that blood could in some way expiate
guilt, and make peace between man and the object of
his worship ; hence all kinds of birds and beasts have
been used as sacrifices."

Truth replied, " It seems that all men have an idea
that the life is in the blood, and also of the possibility
of substitutional sufferings and vicarious atonement."

" Yes," said Faith ; " and it would seem that when
God said, ' Without the shedding of blood there is no
remission,' the echo of His voice reached the ears and
penetrated the hearts of all men."

" Well, it must be a dreadful thing to take an indi-
vidual and kill him in cold blood," said Love.

Truth said, " To kill a man as a sacrifice is no worse
than it is to kill him as a martyr. The Druids offered
up men and women on the altar of ignorance. Pagans
on the altar of cruelty, but professed Christians offer
up their martyred victims on the altar of bigotry and
intolerance ; and, so far as I can see, the one is no
better than the other in this respect."

Faith put in her opinion, and said, " In persecuting
men for their religion Christians are acting contrary
to the teachings of the founder of the Christian sys-
tem. But Druids and other Pagan.s do not violate the
principles of their professed belief, so that there is less
excuse for Christians when they become persecutors
than for the others."

CALLED FROM THE WILDKRNESS.

343

lii

Here Hope said, " It cannot be long now before the
violent and bloody persecutions that have made such
havoc of our dearest friends, for so many centuries,
must soon come to an end."

" Oh, I would be so much pleased if that were so," put
in Love.

Ecclesia said, with great solemnity, " I have a
passage here that I will read, for it seems to me that it
has a bearing on the subject of our present conversa-
tion." And she began to read :

" And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea
and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, and
sware by him that liveth forever and ever, . . . that
there should be time no longer. But in the days of
the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to
sound, the mystery of God shall be finished, as he hath
declared to his servants the prophets." (Rev. x. 5,
6, 7.) Then turning to the interpreter, she said,
" How do you explain these words ? "

Mr. Deeming answered, " There are many mysteries
in nature, providence and grace ; but I think that the
one here spoken of is the ' mystery of iniquity ' that
Paul speaks of to the Thessalonians (2 Thess. ii.),
a mystery that none but God could understand.
Why is it that, for so long a time, liberty of con-
science has been denied the individual, and civil and
religious freedom have been withheld from dissenting
Christians ? Why is it that for so many centuries a
system of Paganized Christianity has been permitted
to dominate so large a portion of the world and to
trample on the God-given rights of nations, families
and persons ? Why is it that for 1,260 years the
woman clothed with the sun, the Bride of Christ and
queen of the kingdom has had to remain in the
wilderness ? Why is it that the holy city, the real
Church of Christ, is trodden under foot forty-two
months, during which the temple of God is closed and

W:4

344

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

permission to worship God outside of a State Church
is refused throughout the Christian world ? Why is
it that God's two witnesses must prophesy ir sackcloth
for one thousand two hundred and three score days ?
And why is it the ten-horned beast must continue to
trample on the necks of kings and rulers and hunt the
woman in the wilderness, and carry on his back the
woman clothed with scarlet for forty and two months ?
These are all parts of one great whole, that together
make up the mystery of God or God's mystery."

Iffi

^ii ill

TO COME TO AN END.

" Well, what does the angel mean by proclaiming
the end of time ? " asked Truth.

Mr. Deeming replied, " He does not speak of the end
of that part of duration called time. But he proclaims
the termination of some particular period in which
certain events are to transpire. And he uses the word
time here in the sense of delay. And the procla-
mation of the angel is to the effect that the end of
these things has come, and that God will no longer
delay the fulfilment of his promises to his friends, and
the execution of his threatenings to his foes."

" You think, ^ len," said Ecclesia, " that the mys-
tery of iniquity has fully developed itself, and now its
end is come. Is that your meaning ? "

" That is what I think," said he.

" Well, what or who is represented by the angel who
stands upon the sea and upon the earth ? " inquired
Truth.

Mr. Deeming replied, " Angel means a messenger
sent to communicate the will Of God to man, or to exe-
cute that will. Sometimes it may be a spirit, and at
other times it may be a man, or it may be some inani-
mate thing. Whatever God selects to execute His
purposes, may be called his angel. In this case, a per-

CALLED FROM THE WILDERNESS.

345

and

senger
,0 exe-
and at

inani-
ie His

a per-

son is seen standing in a peculiar position, making a
startling proclamation."

"Do you think that it is a man, or is it a spiritual
or divine personage," asked Ecclesia.

Mr. Deeming answered, " My opinion is that it is a
man, but he speaks by the authority of God, and de-
clares the purposes of God. To understand this sym-
bol, we must look to our rules of interpretation. First,
this person comes down from heaven, that is, from the
religious realm. He has a cloud about him, that is,
something that obscures his real character from his
foes. There is a rainbow about his head, a proof that
the worst is over, and the storm that began under the
first trumpet is passing away. His face was as the
sun. To the people of God his face was radiant with
truth and righteousness, reflecting the glory of Christ,
as it is seen in the Gospel. His feet were as pillars
(or supports) of fire. We have seen that fire is a sym-
bol of the Divine presence. The meaning is, that this
angel (or man) walks so perfectly on the line of duty,
that the Divine presence directs his steps, and guards
his way."

" Why does he stand with one foot on the sea and
the other on the earth ?" asked Truth.

" The earth," said Mr. Deeming, " as a symbol, means
societv under State government: the sea means
society under ecclesiastical government, or under a cor-
rupt, or false religion.

" Where the two are combined, as in the present case,
they represent a politico-religious organization, over
which one person rules.

" This person standing on the sea and on the earth
means, that by the authority of God, he speaks for the
State and for the Church, saying that the unfolding of
the divine purposes, in ujiravelling the tangled web of
ignorance and superstition, with wliich the mystery of
iniquity had, for so many centuries, veiled the faces
23

\i0.

346

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

and blindfolded the eyes of the people, was now to be
torn from the faces of the nations, and that better
times for the woman in the wilderness is at hand."

Ecclesia said, " How long before this prediction will
be fulfilled, and how shall we know when these things
come to pass ? "

Mr. Deeming replied, " I think T have told you that
prophecy is history written beforehand, and that his-
tory is the best commentary on prophecy. If you can
tell me how long since you fled to the wilderness, I can
tell 3"ou how long you have got to stay in it before
you will be called out of it."

She answered, "It is now about 1,260 years since
the last place of public worship that was not con-
nected with some ;itate Church was destroyed or
closed up by the hand of the State, at the instigation
of the so-called Church, Since then, nowhere in the
wide world could I and my friends build places of
worship and use them without exposing ourselves to
pains and penalties."

" Just so," said the interpreter, "and that is what is
meant by the woman (or Church) in the wilderness.
You remember that this disfranchisement of the
Church was completed by the Vandals, in Africa, A.D.
428 and 429 ; add 1,260 years to this, and it brings us
A.D. 1688 and 1G89 as the cime for the fulfilment of
that prophecy."

" Why, that is the present year," said Truth.

"Yes," said Hope, "we are in the winter of 1688-9,
and nearlv to the end of that winter, too. Can it be
that the lon^ looked for time has come when our dear
mistress shall enjoy the freedom she so much desires
and so richly deserves ? "

Mr. Deeming replied, "Both prophecy and history
seem to give an affirmative answer to Hope's question.
I have just been told that in one country, at least,
freedom of religious worship has been proclaimed ; so

CALLED FROM THE WILDERNESS.

347

be
itter

ill

imgs

that
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it be
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ed ; so

that there will be one place of refuge to which the
woman can go and find protection from her enemies
and rest for her weary feet."

Truth said to Mr. Deeming, " Where is the country
of which you speak, and what ruler is it that will tol-
erate liberty of conscience and freedom of action in
religious worship ? "

He replied, "The country is Britain, and the ruler is
the new king of England and Scotland, along with his
wife. They are known to their people as William and
Mary."

" Do you mean William the Prince of Orange ? "
inquired Ecclesia.

" Yes," said the interpreter, " the Prince of Orange
is the" ruler of the Netherlands and king of Britain,
and will be known in history as William III. In his
coronation oath before the Scotch nobility, he declared
that the times of persecution in his kingdom were
ended.*

Ecclesia answered, " I have long been of the opinion
that the family of Nassau and the house of Orange
were raised up by the Great Disposer of events for
some great and good purpose. As one of the most
honor 1 families in Europe, and one whose history
runp . ,ick over eight or nine centuries, this race has
had much to do in shaping the civil and religious des-
tinies of Europe. For several generations this family
has been leaders in thought and action ; being on the
side of human freedom in politics and religion, they
have not been afraid to champion that cause in the
presence of any foe, either as soldiers, statesmen, or
Christians."

*See "Protestant Landmarks," pp. 138 and 225. Thore is a
striking coincidence hero between the declarations of the angels
and the Prince of Orange. The one proclaims that the mystery
of ini([uity nuist end ; the other, speaking as the niovjth-i)iece of
tlie Church and the State, declares that the times of persecution
must end, at least in his realm.

848

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

i h f 4

" That is true," said Mr. Deeming. " And do you
not remember what a thrill was sent through Europe
when Philip of Spain, assisted by the Jesuits, secured
the assassination of William, Prince of Orange, who
was the ancestor of the present Prince of Orange and
king of Britain ? "

" Yes, I remember, and remember also the sadness of
my heart, when I learned that this great and good
man had fallen by the hand of the murderers." *

Truth here spoke, and said, " It is well if a ruler
from such a noble race has been chosen as the instru-
ment by which the Church of the living God is to be
called up out of the obscurity that has surrounded it,
and placed before the gaze of the nations in all its
characteristic loveliness."

With a voice trembling with emotion, Ecclesia said,
" The Church that I represent shall one day meet the
astonished gaze of angels. But, in the meantime, it
should be ready and willing to stand before the world
as the brightest object that people look upon."

Hope said, with much feeling, " I think I can see
that noble man, the newiy-made king of Britain, as,
with his hand uplifted to heaven, he proclaims that he
will never persecute any man for his religion."

" That," said Faith, " must be the voice that calls
the Church out of the wilderness state ; and if it be so,
our beloved mistress will soon enter upon a new era of
existence."

Mr. Braveheart who had been a silent listener to the
conversation, now spoke, and said, " I hope that the
fortitude and faithfulness that have been displayed
by the woman in the wilderness may be fully equalled
by her faithful diligence and enduring steadfastness in
loving toil for the good of humanity."

Mr. Deeming replied, " In the wilderness her condi-

* "Protestfuit Landmarks," p. 78.

CALLED FROM THE WILDERNESS.

349

tion has been one ot* suffering. In the changed cir-
cumstances her condition will be one of work. In the
wilderness her enemies tried to destroy her, but in the
coming era they will try to spoil her work,"

As the conversation ceased, Ecclesia commenced to
sing the following lines :

to the

at the

layed

ualled

less in

condi-

" Three score and three decades have passed,
Since deadly foes got on my track
With helhsh purpose. To the last
They never faltered nor turned back.

"They dogged my steps where'er I went,
Nor missed my track by day or night ;
Still on my final ruin bent.
They never let me from their sight.

" O'er mountains high and rough and steep.
Through forests dense and dark and wild,
In fens and glens and caverns deep.
They chased me. Still I am undefiled.

" My heart now magnifies the Lord,
That I can hear His voice to-day,
And standing on His written word,
I want His mandates to obey.

' ' The faith that once to me was given

I've kept, the path marked out for me
I've walked in. Soon the Lord of heaven
Will lead me forth, and make me free."

" So may it be," said Faith ; and all the others re-
sponded, " So may it be."

" What will be my work under the new circum-
stances that will surround me ? " inquired Ecclesia.

Mr. Deeming replied, " Your work will be to cor-
rect the errors and subdue, as far as you are able, the
opposition to the cause of your Lord, that have been
developed during the period of the trumpets, and then
go on with the work that was given you at first — that

350

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

ence

is, to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to
every creature."

" Well," said she, " will I be helped or hindered in
this work by the enemies that have opposed me so
long, or will they treat my efforts with coM indiffer-
? "

The interpreter replied, " In trying to root out the
evils that are found in so-called Christian countries,
you will meet the most stubborn opposition. And in
the other parts of the world you will find much of the
ground preoccupied by a Paganized type of Chris-
tianity, or by institutions set up by the false prophet.
And in all your efforts you will meet with cold
indifference, in many places where you might natur-
ally expect encouragement and support."

" How long," she asked, " will this opposition be con-
tinued ? "

Mr. Deeming replied, '*In some form or other, the
beast (or Paganized Christianity), the dragon (Pagan-
ism), and the false prophet (Mahommedanism), will
never cease to oppose your work, until they meet their
final overthrow on the bloody field of Armageddon.
After that vou will have no more trouble with them."

" How long will it probably be till the time you
speak of ? " asked Truth.

Mr. Deeming replied, " That is a question that I
cannot answer. At the sounding of the first trumpet,
the woman fi( d to the wilderness. The seventh trum-
pet calls her from the wilderness and introduces the
period of the vials. The first strikes a heavy blow on
her enemies, curtails the power of the ten-horned and
the two-horned beasts, and secures civil and religious
liberty to dissenting Christians.*

* The students of prophecy would do well to carefully study
the eft'ects of the British Revolution on the civil and religious
destiny of Europe and the world. The great leader of the de-
fenders of Protestantism was as much a child of Providence as
Cyrus or Alexander was. He was God's instrument.

CALLED FROM THE WILDERNESS.

351

"And each succeeding vial will hurt one or more of
the King's enemies, and at the pouring out of the
seventh they shall be utterly overthrown. We shall
have more to say on the subject of the vials at another
time ; meanwhile, I will ask our mistress to relate some
of her experiences in the past."

Ecclesia said, " There are some events in my past
experiences that I can never forget, and the further I
get from them in point of time, the more important
they appear to become. This arises from the fact that
I am able to group them with other experiences of a
later date, and thus I learn their bearing on my des-
tiny ; and I think more about them when I can see how
they are woven into the warp and woof of the web of
my existence.

" The first great trial of my life was on the occasion
when my Lord left me standing alone on the slope of
Mount Olivet, and went up out of my sight. At first
I thought I could not live. But when I called to
mind his words that it was best for me, I calmed my-
self and resolved to do as he told me, and carry the
Gospel to the world.

" Then after this, the Jews gave me a great deal of
trouble. I remember how I felt when they stoned
Stephen to death, for no other reason than because he
was one of my workers ; and then came the arrest of
Peter and John for healing a cripple, and the killing
of James, the Just, for being one of my friends. In
fact, I was persecuted and hunted from place to place
by the Jews till the very last day of their national
existence.

" Then came the times of persecution by the order of
Nero the emperor, when Paul and Peter and thousands
of my friends and helpers were slaughtered like sheep
by a pack of wolves."

Truth here spoke, " I can see some reason why the
heathen might persecute the new religion — new, I mean,

352

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

to them ; but I cannot see why the Jews should do so.
Was not the Christian system foreshadowed in the
teachings and ceremonies of their own religion ?"

Mr. Deeming replied, "At the time we speak of,
the Jewish religion had lost its power, and was little
better than a dead body, without life or motion, and
was made up mostly of forms and traditions ; and to
their superstitious fancies the carcass of their defunct
system was more attractive than anything else. So
when their own promised Messiah came to them, they
could ' see no beauty in Him that they should desire
Him.'"

Ecclesia went on again, and said, " The persecutions
under Nero almost disheartened me, but I took courage
from the words of my Lord, so that I could face the
difficulties of my position with calm confidence.

" And I had only been a short time resting from the
worry and anxiety caused" by the bitterness of these
persecutions, when I was informed that I must leave
my home and go out into the Gentile world and seek
another ; and before I had time to form any definite
plans for the future, the Roman armies invested the
city, and I had to flee for my life to the wild moun-
tains in the land of Moab, where I found safety in the
obscurity of the place until Jerusalem was made a
heap of ruins and the country a desolation. After
this, for awhile I had no settled place of abode; but
by turns I was found in Antioch, in Alexandria, in
Byzantium and in Rome, while my friends and helpers
made their way into many places carrying the good
news of salvation wherever they went.

" Looking back to those days that seem to bring so
many trials, I can see how the world was blessed by
the events that to me were full of so many discourage-
ments. By breaking up our home at Jerusalem we
had to go out into the wide world, and we became
scattered abroad in all directions.

CALLED FROM THE WILDERNESS.

353

"Like homeless wanderers we went forfcli,
From east to west, from south to north,
Proclaiming Christ where'er we came,
Offering salvation in His name.

' ' In distant lands the truth was told
Which did the grace of God unfold,
And listening thousands everywhere,
Were saved from darkness and despair.

"Millions are now in glory found
Who heard from us the gladsome sound,
Turned from their idols and became
Believers in the Saviour's name."

Mr. Braveheart asked the interpreter if he could
tell how many suffered martyrdom under the Pagan
emperors during the ten general persecutions.

Mr. Deeming replied, " The number will never be
known until the records of time are read by the great
Judge in the light of the judgment fires ; but we are
safe in saying that many millions bore their testimony
to the truth with their blood during these years of
terrible conflict."

Ecclesia said, " You may well say years of terrible
conflict. I cannot forget those days of darkness and
sadness. The hand of the persecutor generally struck
down first the men whose position in the Church
made them of greatest importance to it. When Paul
and Peter died at Rome the loss was felt everywhere ;
and when the aged Bishop Polycarp was burnt at
Smyrna, A.D. 167, we felt that a great luminary had
been extinguished. And when Origen, of Alexandria,
was slain, A.D. 254, we mourned the loss of the greatest
luminary of the age in which he lived.*

" And when I wept at the graves or over the ashes
of my slaughtered children I remembered the words of
the Master, ' Behold, I send you forth as sheep among

* See Lyman's " Historical Chart."

354

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

,1 H

wolves. . . . And yo shall be hated by all men for my
name sake. But he that endureth to the end, the
same shall be saved. . . . And he that loseth his life
for my sake, shall find it.' "

Mr. Bravehearfc said to Ecclesia, " It has always
seemed a very strange thing to me that persecutions
were continued after Paganism ceased to be the religion
of the empire,"

Mr. Deeming replied, " The change was not from
pure Paganism to pure Christianity. But the two
opposing systems came together and formed a system
of Paganized Christianity in alliance with the State,
with the emperor at the head of the State Church ;
and the state of society that grew out of this con-
dition of things not only tolerated persecution, but
encouraged it and helped it on."

Ecclesia .spoke again, saying, " I never felt so much
like giving up the contest as I did when the bishops
and the emperor formed the alliance of Church and
State, notwithstanding my earnest protest against
such a thing. And when the dragon was carried into
the Church as the official head of Paganism, by the
emperor, and so many of my bishops were willing to
make him the official head of the Church also, I
became sick at heart and thought I would retire and
leave them to work out their own plans and devices,
while I would do my duty as best I could- and work
on independent lines ; but I soon learned by bitter
experience that I could not do that in peace. There
was enough of the dragon's spirit in the State Church
to make it an intolerant, persecuting institution. And
in fleeing from the face of the dragon I soon found
that I was not yet safe. The ten-horned beast became
the dragon's substitute, and he has been on my track
through all these vears. And in all lands, and at all
times, wherever he has had an influence, my people
have suffered under the intense hatred of him and his
rider, the polluted and polluting Jezebel.

CALLED FROM THE WILDERNESS.

"And then there caine the false prophet, with hia
politico-religious aystein, and his niilitary forces to
back up his teaching. He has made my lot a hard one
wherever he has iound me — not so much because I was
Christian, but because I would not be Mohammedan.

" And later on, the two-horned beast came on the
scene, and he did his part in making me feel the weight
of this tripple alliance of enemies, who made me the
object of displeasure.

"In view of all that I have come through, it is a
wonder that I am alive to-day. It is only because the
God of heaven has watched over me and kept me, that
I have an existence on the earth at this hour."

Truth inquired if it were known how many Chris-
tians had been slain as martyrs, since the commence-
ment of the Church of Christ in the world.

Mr. Deeming answered, " It would be impossible to
tell the number on the whole, but it is estimated that
not less than fifty millions were killed by the ten-
horned beast and the scarlet-colored rider, that sat
with so nmch complacency on his back :, and if we add
to these the numbers slain by the dragon and the false
prophet, and the two-horned beast, one hundred mil-
lions would be a low estimate."

Ill

Hii^in

1^1

CHAPTER XXIV.

THE DAYS OF KETRIP.UTION.

" '^ 1 ^HE turn in the tide of events that beoan under

X the fifth trumpet foreboded evil times for the
enemies of the rider on the white horse, and it was a
pledpfe of the final overthrow of Ecclesia's tormentors,"
Mr. Deeminj[^ remarked, as he met with the company
after the conversation described in the last chapter.

Ecclesia, holding up the roll which she always car-
ried with her, said, " I have something here that I want
to hear explained, and I think it will be very interesting
to all of us."

" Please read on," said Mr. Deeming.

And she read, " The second woe is past, and behold,
the third woe cometh quickly. And the seventh
angel sounded ; and there followed great voices in
heaven, saying. The kingdoms of the world are become
the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, and he
shall reign for ever and ever,"

Mr. Deeming replied, " At the commencement of our
examination of this roll, we found that the course of
events symbolized in it was divided into three series
of seven, making twenty-one in all. There were seven
seals opened, seven trumpets sounded, and seven vials
(bov,'ls)/)f wrath poured out.

" The first four of the seals called forth four horses
and riders. Those we explained to represent Chris-

THE DAYS OF RETRinUTION.

357

n under
for the
t was a
lontors,"
onipany
ipter.
ays car-
t I want
,eresting

I behold,
seventh
oices in
) become
, and he

nt of our
ourse of
ee series
sre seven
^en vials

ir horses
it Chris-

tianity, Impeiialisii), Kcclosiasticisrn, and State-Church-
isrn. The second, third and fourth were all enemies
and opposers of the Hr^t. And they made common
cause against him, and there could be no peace until
either he or they should be crushed and driven off the
Held. Tiic fifth and sixth seals revealed the state of
mind ainonjr Christians and Paijrans as thesf characters
made their appearance. The last seal int' oduced the
trumpets.

" Under the seals it was a square fight between
Christianity and Paganism in alliance with Imperialism,
or the red horse and his rider with the red dragon for
his ally. Then there came a time when Ecclesiasticism
became a disturbing element in the relations of the
Church and the world, and it soon made its influence
felt as a powerful factor in obliterating the lines of
demarcation that Christ and his apostles had so dis-
tinctly drawn between Christianity and Paganism.

" When the emperor professed conversion and joined
the Church he carried Paganism into his State-made
institution v/hich he called the Church.

"The struo^jjle now was no lonfjer between Chris-
tianity and Paganism, pure and simple; but it was a
system of Paganized Christianity against the true
Church of Christ. This contest went on durin^f the
period of the trumpets, and it will terminate under the
seventh vial. Six of the seals and four of the trumpets
brous^ht disaster to the cause of the white horse and
his rider. But the other three trumpets and the seven
vials, each in its turn, brings disaster to some one or
more of his opposers."

Truth spoke, and said, " Are the enemies the same
that are seen under the trumpets as those who appear-
ed on the opening of the seals ? "

Mr. Deeming answered, " They are the same, but
they assume new characters. The red horse and his
rider with the help of the dragon, or Imperialism and

,1'

3 , ;■

■)"■

). .

■ '!

8 , »«.«.

(■ i'i

II I

?.!

858

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

Paganism, made their attacks upon Christianity as
such. But the appearance of the black and pale horses
changed tlie aspect of tlie struo-ole, and brought a
powerful reinforcement to the king's enemies. The
conflict then became one between a Paganized system
of Christianity and that which was pure and unham-
pered l)y any worhily alliances.

" This chanae in the character of the contestants
necessitated a corresponding one in the symbols by
which they were represented. Under the seals Cliris-
tianity was represented by the white horse and
his rider, who went forth conquering and to conquer.
But under the trumpets, Christianity is seen as a
woman clothed with the sun. The former goes forth
as a warrior to face his foes ; but undei- the trumpets,
he seems to be lost sight of, and it is only after his
foes have been permitted to do their worst that he
again makes his appearance, attended by a luimerous
retinue clothed in white aad, like their learler, riding
on white horses.

" The v/oman is seen flying from the face of the
dragon, and she remains in the wilderness for twelve
hundred and sixty years.

" Meanwhile the dragon transfers his power «and
authority to the ten-horned beast, and Imperialism
and Ecclesiasticism unite in State-Churcl ism, and form
a complex system that is represented by this beast.
Then came the false prophet, Mohiimmed, who was
symbolized by a burning mountain cast into the sea, at
the sounding the second trumpet.

" Tlic^i under the third trumpet, the Bishop of Rome
fell from the religious to the secular realm, and became
a temporal ruler. This was symbolized by a falling
st.'-r. And the system that grew out of that event is
represented by the woman sein on the scarlet-colored
beast. And later on, the two-horned beast came on
the scene, and he, like Mohammed, strengthened the
cause of State-Churchism."

THE DAYS OF RETRIBUTION.

359

lity as
horses
ugbt a
. The
system
iinham-

Lestants
bols by
J Chris-
■se and
jonquer.
m as a
^s forth
umpets,
iter his
that he
miierous
', riding

; of the
' twelve

wev and
)erialism
md form
is beast.
vho was
le sea, at

of Rome
1 became
a falling
event is
t-C(dored
came on
ened the

Truth said, "It seems to me that by retiring out of
sight, and by leaving only a woman to face all these
enemies, the King has given his foes an advantage
that they could not have had if he had remained
visible on the field."

" As to that," Mr. Deeming replied, " we must not
overlook the fact that this woman was the King's
Bride, and that all the resources of the King were
available to her, according to his promise ; and although
his enemies could not see him, he was as really in the
conflict, as they were themselves. They were under a
mistaho, they thought that they were fighting with a
lone, helpless woman ; but they did not know that she
was armed in a panoply of truth and righteousness,
so that before they could destroy her they must find a
weapon stronger than truth, and wield it V)y an arm
more powerful than that of the Lord of life and glory.
They could torture her and make her very uncomfort-
able ; but to destroy her they could no more do than
they could blot the universe out of existence."

" What is meant by third woe?" asked Mr. Brave-
heart.

Mr. Deeming ansvi^ered, " These woes were to come
on the enemies of the woman and her Lord. The first
one came at the sounding of the fifth trumpet, and
under the effects of it, the states of Europe and western
Asia were kept in a state of ferment, and strife, and
suffering, by the preaching of Peter the Hermit, and
the Crusaders for a hundred and fifty years, and this
woe to the inhabitants of the earth or to State govern-
ment was indirectly an advantage to the cause of the
rider on the white horse and His Bride. These Cru-
saders, who lived to return to their own countries,
brought with them many germs of eastern thought and
learning. The tide of events now turns, and moves in
the direction of greater light and puier principles.
The sixth trumpet sounded, and the second woe

360

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

I J

i -i

came upon the states of Christendom. The Turks
come into Europe to remain a year and a month and a
day and an hour, or three hundred and ninety-one
years and fifteen days. This woe not only brought the
Turks to trouble the earth or State government, but it
also brought the Reformation to trouble the ten-
horned beast and his rider. And the two-horned beast
comes on the field of action under this trumpet,* and
assuming to act like a lamb, and speak like a dragon,
he placed himself in hostility to all the parties that
were in the fij^ht before.

" The first beast hated him, because he took from it
some of its domain, and exercised authority that
hitherto had been exclusively claimed by it ; and the
woman could not trust him, because the import of his
words and the tones of his voice seemed so much like
that of the dragon from whose face she had fled in
terror many centuries before. And it is a question
that has been debated whether his influence and tactics
have been most favorable to the woman or to her
enemies.

'* Now we come to the third or last woe ; and we
must remember that the opening of the seventh seal
introduced the trumpets. So the sounding of the
seventh trumpet brings in the period of the vials, and
as the effects of the seals lived on after the last one
had been opened, and ran on through the time of the
trumpets, so the effects of the trumpets live on under
the vials, and will be felt to the latest day of the vial
period. The two woes already noticed do not end
with the period in which they came upon the earth,
but their effects will pass on into the times of the vials;
and the third woe comprises all the bitter ingredients
contained in the seven last plagues, or vials of wrath,
to be poured out upon the enemies of the Bride of the
King."

* " Protestant State-Churchism." — Robertson.

THE DAYS OF RETRIBUTION.

861

furks
and a
y-one
lit the
but it
J ten-
[ beast
* and
ragon,
i that

rom it
y that
nd the
of his
ch like
fled in
Liestion
tactics
to her

md we
th seal
of the
lis, and
ist one
of the

under
he vial
ot end

earth,
le vials;
•edients

wrath,
e of the

Ecclesia said to the interpreter, " What is meant by
the voices sinoino; that the kinijdoms of this world are
become the kingdoms of our Lord."

He answered, " All through the prophetic writings
there are found passages which point to a time in the
future when God shall reign and rule in the world, in
a way and to an extent that he has never done since
man, under the leadership of Satan, revolted from the
divine authority, and set up a government which he
called a kingdom, and proclaimed himself a king."

Mr. Deeming continued, " Men make a great mis-
take when they suppose the word 'kingdom of God'
is a figure of speech, and that the term has been bor-
rowed from earth and applied to heaven as a metaphor.
The earth has stolen the idea from heaven, and men
have wickedly and impiously taken to themselves the
terms king and potentate, as though a pigmy could
stand up in the attitude of him who is the only poten-
tate — for he is King of kings and Lord of lords."

Mr. Braveheart here inquired, "Did not God give
a king to his ancient people, the Jews, and in doing
so did he not sanction the government of kings ? "

Mr. Deeming answered, *' The Lord gave to his
people a code of laws by which they were to govern
themselves, and it was only after they had clamored
for a king, and after God by the prophet* cautioned
them against sucli a choice, that he allowed them to
have their own way in this matter; they persisted in
their demand for a king, and one was allowed them,
but it was more as a punishment than as a favor ; and
the notion that the kings reign by divine right is one
of the fallacies that will pass away as men become
better acquainted with God's arrangements."

"You think, then, that the government of the

' >.(

* See 1 Samuel, viii. 7 ; x. 19 ; xii. 17,

III.

Iff ■: V.

' ;/ !
i f

i I

h <

iM0

I '

i VI
i ■'

nil

362

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

people should be by the people themselves ? " remarked
Truth.

" Not exactly that," said Mr. Deeming ; " God has
reserved to himself the right of government, and he
does this by agents to whom he gives laws and pre-
cepts for their guidance, and when the people obey
the laws and precepts of God, they are under his
government and protection. While the Jews obeyed
Moses and the prophets, and the judges that God gave
them, they were safe and happy. When they revolted
from these they rebelled against God, and he sent
them kings to rule them, and often to tyrannize over
them.

" But in God's original plan there was no provision
for ruling millions of people by the will of one man
who takes the title that belongs to God alone, and
calls himself a king. Many nf them do this thing
ignorantly, as Saul of Tarsus persecuted the Church
of Christ."

Mr. Deeming continued, "When all nations shall
observe God's laws and walk in his statutes, and
shape their public ordinances according to the teach-
ings of his word, then it can truly be said that the
kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of
our Lord and of his Christ."

BOWLS OF WRATH.*

Ecclesia said, " I am going to sing a little, and then
I will read again from my roll ; and what I sing is on
the line of what I intend to read :

i ' : '((

*' O'er mountain tops, o'er hills and valleys,
The trumpet's sound is heard to-day,
Telling His foes tliat all their sallies
Cannot avail His wrath to stay.

" The time has come for his His repaying
The wrongs that centuries have wrought ;

THE DAYS OF RETRIBUTION.

363

irked

d has
nd he
I pre-
obey
3r his
beyed
i gave
volted
e sent
B over

)vision
le man
e, and
thing
IJhurch

s shall
s, and

teach-
hat the

oms of

id then
ig is on

His liand no longer now delaying

To enforce the truths His Word has taught.

"Henceforth the Bible shall be given
To every man who wants to read ;
Shackles and chains shall now be riven,
And men and nations shall be freed."

" Amen ! " said the interpreter, and all the others
said, " Amen ! "

Ecclesia commenced to read as follows, some selected
passages, " And I saw another sign in heaven, great
and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last
plagues ; for in them is tilled up the wrath of God. . . .
And I heard a great voice out of the temple saying to
the seven angels, Go your ways and pour out the
vials (bowls) of the wrath of God upon the earth. And
the first went, and poured his vial (bowl) upon the
earth ; and there fell a noisome and grievous sore
upon the men which had the mark of the beast, and
upon them which worshipped his image." (Rev. xv.
1 ; xvi. 1, 2.)

Mr. Deeming began his explanations by saying,
" The eleventh chapter and the sixteenth chapter of
this book seem to be connected, the latter being a con-
tinuation of the former.

" At the sounding of the seventh trumpet the temple
of God was opened, and in it was seen the ark of his
testament, or, as I take it, the place of safe deposit for
his Word.

" Then there intervenes a symbolical description of
the institutions that had been brouoht into notice
during the time of the trumpets, and that were to be
affected by the vials. These are the woman clothed
with the sun, the ten-horned beast and the two-
horned beast, and also the Mohammedan system, repre-
sented by a great burning mountain cast into the sea.
At the close of these descriptions the prophet comes

H? ■■ •

364

CLOTH p:d with the sun.

l)jick to the opened temple, and, looking into it, he saw
that it was filled with smoke ; but out of it came the
seven anix<-ls with their vials "

Truth here inquired o£ the interpreter if it were
possible to know who or what these an^ijels and their
vials are ?

He said, "These angels coming out of the temple
shows that God sends them. And who or what they
are can only be known when the prophecy becomes
history. The vials a,re filled with God's displeasure.
And the instruments by which He sends them may be
termed angels, whether they be individuals or nations.
But the woman clothed with the sun has nothing to
fear- from either the angels or the vials."

Truth again asked, "Do you think that the Hrst
vial was poured out at the sounding of the seventh
trumpet ? "

"Yes," said the interpreter. The sounding of the
seventh trumpet was the signal for the commencement
of the third woe, or the vial period. And the calling
of the woman out of the wilderness is one of the effects
of this vial.

"And the unsettled state of Europe, at the time
when the young Prince of Orange was made a leading
member of the confederation, and leader of the armies
of the smaller States against the king, Louis XIV. of
France, when none of these nations were at rest, seem.s
to be a strong intimation that the first angel was pour-
ing out his vial upon the earth, or State governments."

Mr. Deeming continued : " It is my opinion that if
any one man represents the angel with the first vial,
it is the ruler of the Netherlands and king of England.
And the ingredients contained i»i that vial is made up
of the events that led to, and followed, the Revolution
of 1688. The effects of these events on the red horse,
or Imperialism, and on his ally, the black horse anrl
vider, they will not recover from. Absolutism, both

THE DAYS OF RETRIBUTION.

365

and
both

in civil and ecclesiastical government, were greatly-
weakened under this vial."*

Mr. Braveheart said to the interpreter, " Why was
nearly the whole of Europe joined tofjjether against
France, as we tind was the case by the Augsburg
Lea'^ue ?"

•Mr. Deeming replied : " Tlie increasing influence of
France was a standing menace to the civil liberties of
Europe, and a threatening danger to the Reformed
religion. Hence Catholic countries like Spain and
Savoy would oppose France on political grounds, while
the Protestant states would oppose it on account of
religion and politics both. And the king, Louis XIV.,
was the most ambitious and the most unscrupulous
ruler in Europe. His prime minister. Cardinal
Mazarin, said that there was enough in him to make
four kings and one honest man.

" Later on, we find another European league against
France and Spain, and the Thirty Years' War of the
Spanish Succession, in which England joined to pre-
vent a union of these two countries."

Mr. Deeming continued, "The pouring out of this
vial set Europe in a blaze, and for more than half a
century not one of the potentates of that quarter of
the globe could feel certain of the continuance of his
reign for a single year. Louis reigned in France, as
boy and man, for seventy- two years. He saw his
country rise to the height of greatness, and he lived
to see it sink into such decadence that, staggering
under the debts that rested on it, it became an object
of pity to its friends and one of disgust to its many
foes. Yes, no doubt, Europe felt and still feels the
effects of the first vial of God's wrath upon the enemies
of pure Christianity."

''' It will be a profitable exercise to study the history of those
times in the light of these explanations. It will be time well
spent.

•I

ilff**

% \

I' I; .^

K i;

IIM\

■I! \
m\ ;;

366

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

ANOTHER VIAL OF WRATH.

Ecclesia said, "The contemplation of this picture
makes me wish to change the subject. I will read
something more, if you are ready to listen."

" Go on " was the response of the whole company.

She read, "And the second angel poured his vial
upon the sea, and it became as the blood of a dead
man ; and every living soul died in the sea."

"Not much change for the better. This is, it seems
to me, is as sad a picture as the first," was the remark
of Faith after she heard the passage.

Truth answered, " The enemies of the King and his
Bride must expect this. The pictures will grow darker,
and the punishments of the advocates of every false
system will become more severe, as one after the other
of these vials is poured out."

Here, Love, who had not spoken for many days,
came forward, and said, with tender pathos in her
voice, "It is so sad and so terrible to think of the
amount of suffering that is to follow all these plagues.
It really makes my heart bleed to hear of it. And is
there no possible way to prevent these woes and afflic-
tions from coming upon the world ? "

Truth answered, " If men would repent of their sins
and turn from their false systems and idolatries, God
would do as He did with Nineveh of old — He would
withhold the vials."

Hope said, " The time will come when the enemies
will all be subdued. You all can remember what was
said of the rider on the white horse. ' He went forth
conquering and to conquer.' "

"Yes," said Mr. Braveheart; "and he is sure to
subdue his foes and triumph over them in the end.
And, although, to men it may seem that the conflict is
a long one, yet to him it is but as a day — for to him
a thousand years are as a day."

THE DAYS OF RETRIBUTION.

367

Ecclesia said to tlic interpreter, " What do you make
of this second vial ? What event or series of events
make up the contents of it ? "

He replied, " This vial is poured out upon the sea.
The sea means society flooded with false teachings
and religious superstitions, and institutions based on
these teachings, and these errors and superstitionij.
So that this vial will affect the social and reli}j:ious
conditions of the people, as the first one affected their
civil and political conditions.

" The second trumpet afl'ected the sea, and brought
in the Mohammedan system of State-Churchism, and
separated the province of Africa from the Western
empire. The second vial reverses all this. It weakens
the connection between Church and State, it restores
Africa to the European system of nations ; it resusci-
tates the Eastern empire, by giving independence to
Greece ; secures liberty of conscience in France and in
all the dominions of Turkey, thus weakening the riders
on the red horse and the pale horse, and the ten-horned
beast of the sea."

" Has this vial been poured out already, or is it still
in the future ? " asked Truth.

Mr. Deeming answered, " I think it has been poured
out, and that the effects of it have changed the current
of history and greatly modified the relations between
the nations of Europe and the ten-horned beast.

" The French Revolution and the wars of Napoleon
are the ingredients that weie contained in the second
vial. Let history declare whether this interpretation
is in harmony with facts," said the interpreter, as he
turned to Ecclesia, and asked her to read the next of
her selections.

And she read, " And the third angel poured out his
vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters, and they
became blood. . . . For they have shed the blood of
saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to
drink, for they are worthy."

i i

368

CLOTHED WITH THK SUN.

PURER WATER PROMISED.

«f

Mr. Deeming said, " We have seen that the rivers
and fountains of water were made bitter under the
third trumpet, when the star called wormwood fell
upon the third part of them and they became bitter.
Rivers and fountains of water are symbols of the doc-
trines of Christianity. The waters were made bitter
when the Pope fell from the spiritual to the secular
realm and became a temporal ruler, and established
image worship, compulsory tithes and other falsehoods,
claiming for ihem divine sanction. The Pope gave
the people bitter water to drink, but God gives to the
Pope and all advocates of false systems blood to drink.
Under the second vial, the sea was made like the blood
of a dead man. Not only did the teaching of the
enemies of the truth become distasteful and loathsome,
but it was full of poison and rottenness. And it is not
much wonder that so manj'^ in France and other
countries rushed from a false or corrupted religion to
no religion, and turned from popes and prelates to
scoffers and infidels.

" But there is a wonderful difference between the
blood of a dead man and that of a living man. The
life is in the blood, and the whole structure of the
body is built up from the crimson current that
flows through every artery and vein. The pure,
un])olluted doctrines of Christianity, and the blessed
influences that accompany them, are to the soul what
the blood is to the body. When the blood is corrupted
the body languishes, and when the truth is corrupted
the souls of men die. I think the blood here means
living blood. The idea is, that this vial being poured
out on the rivers and fountains of water makes them
the source of life and spiritual growth to the lovers of
truth. But to the friends and followers of the enemies

THE DAYS OF KETRIBUTIOJ^.

369

of the woman clothed with the sun these waters
produce a sort of spirituul hydropliobia, and become
a savor of death unto death. Men have so long
been accustomed to drink of the waters that were
made bitter by the star wormwood, under tbe third
trnmpet, that to their vitiated ta^te the pure, sweet*
waters of the river that Hows from the temple of God
are insipid and loathsome. And the restoration of
the doctrines of Christianity to their ori<^inal force
and purity is the fulfilment of this prediction. And
that is taking place every day in the thorough sifting
that every system of dogmatic teaching is undergoing,
and the rejection of every doctrine that will not bear
the test of critical examination in the light of Scrip-
ture and common-sense." *

Ecclesia here inquired, " Does not the vials affect
the things that were affected by the trumpets ? "

Mr. Deeming answered, '" Yes ; the lir.>t trumpet
and the first vial affected the earth, the second trum-
pet and the second vial affected the sea, the third
trumpet and the third vial affected the rivers and
fountains of water; and so on to the end, each vial
will affect what was affected by the corresponding
trumpet."

Truth inquired, "And where does the next vial fall,
and when will it be poured out ? "

MORE LIGHT AND HEAT.

Ecclesia took up the roll, and read, " And the fourth
angel poured out his vial upon the sun, and power
was given unto him to scorch men with tire. And men
were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the
name of God, which hath power over these plagues, and
they repented not, to give him the glory."

* And this sifting of doctrine is still going on, and will do so
till the last error is eliminated from the creeds of Christendom.

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370

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

Mr. Deeming here remarked, " In our conversations
on these prophecies, before the woman went into the
wilderness, and also while she was therein, we simply-
told the meaning of the symbols, and how the fulfil-
ment of the prophecy would affect the various charac-
ters that appeared on the field of vision ; and it was
left for the historians to show whether facts would
sustain our views or not.

" But since the woman came out of the wilderness,
on the pouring out of the first vial, our explanations
have been based on passing events, and the facts of
current history have been cited as the fulfilment of
the prophecy.

" Now we have come to the last days of the fulfilled
prophecy, and the light of history fails to throw any
rays on the future, with the exception of what is
reflected from the past. We know the same objects will
be touched by the remaining vials that were affected
by the corresponding trumpets, but we cannot give the
details of the events that shall occur under any one of
them."

" Well," said Truth, " can you give us no light on
the effects of the fourth vial ? "

" Yes, I can give you some light on this vial ; because
I think that we are living in the time of the com-
mencement of its being poured out ; but what the end
of it will be the future must develop. Under the
fourth trumpet, the sun and moon and stars were
darkened, and the world's dark midnight came on.
The sun is the symbol of the glory of Christ in the
Gospel ; the darkening of the sun was the obscuration
of the light of Christ in the minds of men by intro-
ducing obstacles between them and him. This fourth
vial being poured out on the sun, and increasing its
light and heat, simply means that the Gospel shall
regain its ancient power, and that Christ shall again
be presented to men in all the fulness and all the

THE Days of retribution.

371

blessedness of his nature, and all the completeness of
his redeeming work.

" And under the fourth trumpet, the moon and stars
were darkened, as well as the sun. The moon and
stars mean the ordinances and the ministers of reli-
gion. They are not mentioned in connection with the
fourth vial, but they, too, shall merge from the long,
dark night that has obscured the light of the one and
chilled the energies of the other.

" And in this increase of light men are seeing things
as they never saw them before, and men have clearer
views of what the Scriptures teach now than they had
formerly.* And each succeeding generation of men will
come more and more to hate the things that have
oppressed the nations in the past, and they will be
more and more convinced of a divine fatherhood and
human brotherhood.

" And the unrest that is disturbing the peace and
quiet of many countries to-day in the conflict between
capital and labor, and the land question, and the
question of taxation, and the right of the masses to
have a voice in national government, the question of
woman's franchise, and of the equality of the sexes in
regard to the interests of society.

"And it is because of the increase of this light and
warmth that institutions are springing up all around
us which are intended to alleviate human suffering, to
restrain from wickedness, and to foster and strengthen
everything that is designed to make men better and
happier.

* These explanations have been verified to a great extent by
the events of the past fifty years. Fifty years ago, slavery was
thought to harmonize with God's arrangements ; then Christian
men would buy and sell, and drink whiskey and spiritu'^ua
liquors. Now Christians see that both slavery and the liquor
traffic are contrary to Bible teaching.

372

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

" But tyrants and worldly-mindeJ men, and profli-
pates, and libertines, and human cormorants, and societj'^
leeches, and religious bigots, hate the light and
blaspheme the name of God, because, under the
influence of this light, such men as Wilberforce and
Lincoln saw the iniquity of slavery, and set them-
selves to put it down. Under this light, such men as
Gladstone and McCarthy can see that moral character
is a sine qua non in a political leader. Under this
light, Queen Victoria saw the necessity of excluding
from her court persons of bad character, and Mrs.
(President) Hayes to exclude the wine-cup from her
table."

CHAPTER XXV.

DAYS OF DOOM.

her

A FEW days after the conversations recorded in
the last chapter, Ecclesia and her friends were
standing in front of an old building that looked not
unlike a monastery. While thcj were looking at the
quaint architectural designs and fanciful figures that
gave a sort of imposing aspect to the antiquated
structure, they heard a piercing shriek coming out of
an open doorway leading down into the vaults below
a part of the building,

" What is that ?" came from three or four of the
company at once.

Mr. Deeming answered, "You have heard of the
Jesuits and the Inquisition, have you not?"

Love answered, and said, " We heard of these. But
we have also heard that they have been suppressed by
law, and we thought they were things of the past."

Truth said, " They are outlawed ; but outlawed
things sometimes live on."

Mr. Deeming said, "These are things of the past.
But they are things of the present, too, in some coun-
tries. And we are in one of these, for we are in the
darkest country in Europe."

Another shriek, louder and more piercing than the
first, startled them again.

Mr. Deeming said, with a good deal of pathos in his

374

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

voice, "Some poor creature is suffering the cruel
tortures found only in the dungeons of the Inquisition.
The Jesuits and Inquisitors are not all dead yet. But
we can do no good here. Let us go to some more suit-
able place, and commune with the spirit of prophecy."

After a few minutes' walk they came to a beautiful
arbor, where all found seats. Ecclesia had been
powerfully wrought upon by what she heard at the
old building, and it was some time before she could
command her feelings sufficiently to enable her to
speak. But she made no reference to the incidents of
the hour. She began, and read these words, "And
the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the
beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they
gnawed their tongues for pain, and blasphemed the God
of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and
repented not of their deeds." (Rev. xvi. 10, 11.)

Mr. Deeming said, " This vial falls on the seat of the
beast, and his kingdom is full of darkness. Now, the
kingdom of tV^ beast includes all the countries in
which the Paganized system of religion, symbolized by
the ten-horned beast of the sea, has prevailed or does
now prevail as a governing force. The seat of the
beast is the same that was transferred to him by the
dragon, and means the seat of government of the old
Roiuan empire, as it was at the time the transfer was
made. This means the city of Rome as his seat and
its appendages are his kingdom. We take it simply to
mean the home of the Pope is his seat, and the coun-
tries where he exercises authority, either temporal or
spiritual, are his kingdom."

" Well, what is meant by his kingdom being full of
darkness ? " inquired Truth.

" This darkness," said the interpreter, " is not the
darkness of the Middle Ages, for that has passed away;
neither is it a darkness that is caused by an eclipse of
the sun, for that is still shining out bright and clear,

DAYS OF DOOM.

375

cruel
sition.
But
e suit-
»hecy."
lutiful
i been
at the

could
her to
ents of

"And

of the
id they
he God
cs, and

i of the

pw, the

ries in

zed by

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of the

3y the

he old

er was

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nply to

coun-

5ral or

full of

lot the
away;
ipse of
I clear,

as it did under the fourth vial. The darkness is an
infliction of punishment on the worshippers of the beast
and his ima<]^e. It is a blindness brought on them by
being forced to look at a light that is too strong for
their eyes. This is to be inferred from the fact that
pain accompanies the darkness, showing that the
trouble comes, not from the want of light, but from
defective eyesight.

" Under the fifth trumpet, the light of the sun
became obscured by the smoke that issued from the
mouth of the pit, and the air became darkened. The
air means public opinion. Men's eyes, or mental and
moral vision, were adjusted to this darkness. But
when the increased light of the sun, as it shone out
under the fourth vial, was, by a divine reflection,
turned with full force upon the seat of the beast and
upon his worshippers, the terrible effects of it were felt
with such acuteness, that men cried out in anguish and
in anger ; and instead of repenting of their sins, they
blasphemed the name of God."

Truth asked if this vial was entirely confined to
Papal institutions.

Mr. Deeming answered, " This vial will affect all and
every institution that exists as the result of the false
teachings and practices that grow out of the cor-
ruption of Christianity, by mixing it up with Pagan-
ism.

Ecclesia said to the interpreter, " Do you think that
this vial is far in the future, and do you think that
when it is poured out, men will understand what
it is ? "

IT answered, " This vial could not come until the
fourth has spent much of its force, because it seems to
be largely the result of the fourth ; and as the fourth
will probably have spent its force by the beginning of
the twentieth century, it is not likely that the fifth
will be delayed beyond that time. And it may be that

376

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

it will commence before that time, for we know that
the effects of the different vials run on together till the
end of the dispensation ; but like the rest of these sym-
bols, this can be understood only when the events
transpire, and when prophecy becomes history."*

"Do you think," said Truth, "that this vial will
cause much disturbance and trouble among the nations
and people afTected by it ? "

Mr. Deeming ansv/ered, " It would be very presump-
tuous to attempt to enter into the details of the
fulfilment of these prophecies. But we may draw
some inferences from the occurrences under the fifth
trumpet, that will guide to a few general conclusions."

Mr. Deeming continued, " Under the fifth trumpet
the sun and the air were darkened bv the smoke of
the pit. That means that the light of the Gospel was
obscured and public opinion was benighted. And out
of this smoke issued the crusading locusts. Under
this vial, the light that was so much increased under
the fourth one, has so affected and changed public
opinion that the teachings and customs and the insti-
tutions of the Dark Ages have become odious and
unbearable.-f And the friends and abettors of these
things are fairly tortured by the thought that the
masses of the nations are entering on a crusade against
these abuses, as did their ancestors against the Moham-

* If we are not very much mistaken, in the tendencies of the
times, as evinced in the movements that are going on in the
countries where State-Churchism is dominant, the outpouring of
the fifth vial is being accelerated by the acticns of Jesuits and
Ultramontanists, in pressing the claims of their Church, and in
demanding the recognition of Papal authority in Protestant coun-
tries, they are running their heads against a wall.

t Among these will be Jesuitism, Ultramontanism, Papal
infallibility, priestly absolution, transubstantiation, apostolic
succession of Anglican bishops, and many other fallacious
notions.

DAYS OF DOOM.

377

medans of Palestine under the fifth trumpet. And it
is probable that the commotion caused by the fifth
vial will be equal to that caused by the trumpet.
And the diflference between the two will be this :
Under the vial the disturbing forces will act upon the
seat and kingdom of the beast ; while under the
trumpet these forces belched forth in streams of war
and overran the Mohammedan countries of Egypt and
western Asia."

" Well, what effect will these disturbances ave
upon the cause of the woman clothed with the sun ? "
inquired Truth.

" These disturbances," said the interpreter, " will
further the interest of her cause. For by the weaken-
ing of her enemies her chances of success will be
increased by the removal of the obstacles which they
have always thrown in her way."

of the
in the
jring of
lits and
land in
It coun-

Papal
)08tolic
llacious

A RIVER DRIED UP.

Mr. Deeming said to Ecclesia, " You will oblige us
by reading the next selection you have made."

She took up her roll, and read the following,
" And the sixth angel poured 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 pre-
pared.

" 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 oarth and of the
whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great
day of God Almighty.

" Behold, T come as a thief. Blessed is he that

378

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk
naked, and they see his shame.

" And he gathered them into a place called in the
Hebrew tongue Armageddon." (Rev. xvi. 12-16.)

When Ecclesia finished reading, Mr. Deeming said,
"This is a very complicated passage. There are
historical allusions and symbolical representations all
thrown together. Under the sixth trumpet, the four
angels that were said to be bound in the great river
Euphrates, were let loose for an hour, and a day, and
a month, and a year, to slay a third part of men.

" We have taken these four angels to represent the
four Turkish Sultans that had their headquarters at
Bagdad, Aleppo, Damascus and Iconium, all in the
vicinity of the river here mentioned. These Sultans
had been bound or kept within the limits of their own
country by the Crusaders under the fifth trumpet, until
their one hundred and fifty years were fulfilled.
Shortly after this, the Turks invaded Europe, and
began the conquest of parts of that country, and went
on until they besieged Vienna, where they were
defeated with terrible slaughter.* Since that time
the Turks have been kept in Europe by the jealousies
of the great powers."

Truth asked, " What is meant by the drying up of
the river, that the way of the kings of the east might
be prepared ? "

Mr. Deeming answered, "This seems to be an
allusion to the drying up of the Euphrates to open a
passage under the walls of the city of Babylon, by
which the soldiers of the eastern kings of Media and
Persia could enter and take that city. And by the
gradual dwindling away of the Turkish empire in
Europe, and the confinement of the Turkish power to
the country from whence they came, the way for other

Robertson, of Kilmaur,

DAYS OF DOOM.

379

walk

the

' said,
e are
ms all
e four
■j river
y, and
I.

mt the
bers at
in the
sultans
lir own
it, until
alfilled.
)e, and
d went
I were
time
lousies

up of
might

be an
open a
on, by
iia and
by the
Dire in
3wer to
)r other

eastern kings will be prepared ; but who they are, or
what countries they represent, we cannot tell until
the day shall declare it."

" Well, where is Armaejeddon, and when will that
great battle be ?" asked Truth.

" Where Armageadon is, and when the battle will
be fought cannot be known at present. There seems
to be a great deal of conjecture on this subject. The
word is said to mean mountain of the Gospel, or
Megiddo ; and Megiddo is said to mean precious fruit.*
The mountain of the Gospel may mean the kingdom
that upholds the Gospel, or that is upheld by the
Gospel, or it may mean the kingdom of Christ. We
know that in this book, mountain is the symbol for
kingdom."

" Who or what are the three unclean spirits like
frogs that come out of the mouths of the dragon, the
beast and the false prophet ? " inquired Truth.

Mr. Deeming replied, " These spirits go to the kings
of the earth, not to the people. They go to the rulers
of State governments, to prompt them to one last eftbrt
to destroy the Gospel mountain, or the kingdom of
Christ, and to blight its Megiddo, or pleasant fruits.

" These spirits, coming as they do out of the mouths
of the three great enemies who, in one form or other
have opposed the rider on the white horse, and who
have chased the woman clothed with the sun down
through the centuries, must be spirits of evil.

" If I were going to name them, I would call them
respectively. Ambition, Jealousy and Intolerance. To
make the kings become ambitious of power, jealous of
each other, and intolerant towards all who differ from
them in religion, seems to be the errand of these mis-
chief-making spirits in their visits to the rulers of the
earth."

♦"Cabinet Dictionary of the English Language," published
in London and Glasgow.

380

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

Ecclesia iiK^uired, " Do you think this great struggle
called the battle of Armageddon will be a contest of
material forces, or will it be a war of principles ? And
will it be fought with carnal or spiritual weapons ? "

The interpreter answered, " It will be a war in
which both of these elements will find a place. The
line that will divide the contendiufj forces will be the
one that separates between civil and religious freedom
and human equality, or Christian civilization o the
one hand, and ambition, tyranny, intolerance, jealousy,
and everything that stands in the way of peace and
good- will among men, and everything that opposes
Messiah's reign in the hearts of the people. The
vorld will tremble beneath the tread of these con-
tending forces, whenever that day shall come."

A COMING STORM.

At the next meeting for further inquiry into the
meaning of the symbols presented in the wonderful
roll, Ecclesia said to the four maidens that always
attended her, " I want you to stand up together here,
and sing to us the words that we composed for this
occasion." Truth, and Faith, and Hope, and Love,
stood up in a row, and sang as follows :

" Dark clouds are gathering on the mountains,
And thunder-claps are heard afar ;
Strains issuing from long pent up fountains
Are harbingers of coming war.

" Foul spirits now have left their places
In dragon's, beast's and prophet's head,
To travel o'er the world's wide spaces
Wherever kingly feet may tread.

*' They go out to deceive the nations,
And lead them to the pending strife ;
Each listening king comes from his station
To lose his kingdom with his life.

DAYS OF DOOM.

381

"[Zion's great King, tlie Lord of glory,
Shall rule among the nations now ;
For it is said in ancient story
That to Him every knee shall bow."

When the singing ceased, Ecclesia read again, as
follows : " And the seventh angel poured out his vial
into the air; and there came a great voice out of the
temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.
And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings ;
and there was a great earthquake, such as was not
since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earth-
quake, and so great. . . . And every island tied away,
and the mountains were not found."

" This vial," said Mr. Deeming, " brings the climax
and gives the finishing stroke in the great conflict that
commenced under the seals, and has been going on
through the time of the trumpets and the vials.

" This vial is poured into the air ; the air here means
public opinion. The effect of the vial is to stir public
opinion to such a degree of intensity that whatever is
found to stand in its way is overthrown and demol-
ished. This is intimated by the voice from the temple
saying, ' It is done.'

" The nations of Christendom have borne as long as
they will, the wearisome burdens put on them by
Imperialism, Ecclesiasticism and State-Churchism.
Mohammedan countries are tired of the system that so
long blinded their eyes and kept them in a compound
ignorance. They are ignorant, and are ignorant of
their ignorance.*

"Pagans have outgrown their religion, and are
desirous of a change. But none of them are willing to
renounce their errors, repent of their sins, and come
into the light and liberty of the truth, as it is set forth
by the woman clothed with the sun."

* Rev. Henry Martin, Persian Missionary.

1 ,1,;:

382

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

Mr, Braveheart here inquired, " What is meant by
the voices, and the thunders, and the lightnings and
the earthquake ?"

Mr. Deeming replied, "Thunder and lightning are
caused by an abnormal condition of the §itmosphere,
and they show that the forces of nature have got out
of balance, and these commotions are simply nature's
way of restoring the equilibrium. Here they show a
great public excitement and intense feeling and agita-
tion among the peoples of the world.

" And the earthquake means the breaking to pieces
and the swallowing up of State governments. We
remember the opening of the seventh seal brought
voices, and thunderings and lightnings, and an earth-
quake. That seal introduced the first trumpet. And
the earthquake there spoken of shook the western
Roman empire to pieces. And the public opinion of
that day found expression in the setting up of the
Gothic system of government.

" The earthquake under this vial will break up those
State governments that are opposed to the idea of the
brotherhood of man and the fatherhood of God, And
the extent of this breaking up of old systems will
exceed anything of the kind since the world began."

" What are the islands that fled away and the
mountains that were not found ?" asked Truth.

Mr. Deeming replied, " Mountains are the symbols
of State governments. Under the sixth seal, the
mountains and ishir.ds were moved out of their places.
But here the mountains are entirely lost.

"Islands are small patches of land that rise up in
the sea. And they represent small institutions under
the protection of the State. And these institutions,
being islands, show they can only exist in a state of
society that is covered by sea- water, or a false or mixed
religion. Perhaps they represent those ecclesiastical
and secular organizations that give to the clergy the

DAYS OF DOOM.

383

int by
and

ig are
sphere,
;ot out
Bbture's
jhovv a
agita-

pieces
^. We
rought

earth-
. And
vestern
nion of

of the

p those
of the
And
ns will
[ran."
nd the

ymbols

al, the

places.

up in
s under
tutions,
tate of

mixed
iiastical
rgy the

right to lord it over God's heritage, and to corpora-
tions and monopolies the power to trample upon the
rights and privileges of individuals. These could not
exist in a purely Christian civilization, such as is to be
given to the world some day."

The interpreter continued, " The world has never
seen a strictly Christian civilization. But it must see
such a state of society some time, unlef-s we are Lo
believe that the King of kings and Lord of lords has
found more than His match in the despoiler of this
fair world. Human society, even on this earth, will
some day square all its institutions to harmonize with
the golden rule."

" How long will the battle of Armageddon be likely
to last ? " inquired Truth.

Mr. Deeming replied, " In the absence of any in-
formation on this point in the prophecy, it is vain to
speculate on the subject. The battle begins under the
sixth trumpet, when the kings of the east have come,
and the others that have been deceived by the unclean
spirits, have come, and all of them are gathered to-
gether at Armageddon, which means the mountain of
the Gospel, or Megiddo (precious fruit). We think that
the mountain of the Gospel, or Armageddon, is the
kingdom of Christ, or the cause of the rider on the
white horse, that came on the scene at the opening of
the first seal.

"And perhaps Megiddo, or precious fruits, may
mean the blessings that come to those who accept the
Gospel, and become the subjects of this kingdom, and
abide in the protecting clefts of this mountain. There
are many passages in the Word of God that speak of
the mountain of the Lord."

Mr. Deeming continued, " I understand this battle
to be a last and united effort of the enemies of the
cause of Christ, to crush the white horse and his rider,
and overthrow and destroy the woman clothed with
the sun."

I ••

384

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

" Do you think," inquired Mr. Bravebeart, " that
there will be stronger etforts put forth in the future
than there have been in the past, on the part of these
enemies ? "

Mr. Deeming answered, " In the past these foes have
moved on separate lines. Paganism has not coalesced
with Mohammedanism, and neither of these have
worked w^ith a false system of Christianity ; but in
this last great struggle, all of them work in concert,
they combine their forces.

" They have gathered their resources, and mustered
the armies of the deluded kings, to make short work
of the woman whose footsteps the beast has been dog-
ging all down the centuries.

" But they find themselves at Armageddon, or the
mountain of the Gospel. Instead of a weak and timid
woman to face, they find themselves confronted by a
great and high mountain, of which Isaiah says, ' It is
exalted above the tops of the mountains, or other king-
doms.' And Jesus says, ' Whosoever .shall fall upon this
stone shall be broken, and upon whomsoever it shall
fall, it will grind him to powder.* "

" What is the reason of this action ? Why do these
enemies all come to the same conclusion, and form their
coalition at this time more than at other times ? "
inquired Truth.

Mr. Deeming said, " The dragon sees that the rapid
spread and growing influence of pure Christianity
among the nations, forebodes the downfall of Pagan-
ism. The despots of the world, both secular and eccle-
siastical, in the signs of the times and the liberal
tendencies of public opinion, can read the doom of
despotism and absolutism everywhere ; and in the dis-
enthralment of the minds of the masses, through the
increasing light and glory of the Gospel, the ten-
horned and the two-horned beasts can see that their
reign and rule is in great danger.

DAYS OF DOOM.

385

"And this triple alliance of Paganism, Moham-
medanism and State-Churchism is the last great effort
of a weakening and waning cause."

" Will the woman have to meet and pass through
severer trials then than she has already met, and will
she go back into the wilderness?" inquired Truth.

" No, by no means," replied the interpreter. " Then
she was in obscurity, and in her weakness she strug-
gled for a mere existence. Now she is standing before
the world as one of the most conspicuous objects in it,
and so far from the old-time fight for her life, she is
now seen moving on to conquest. And in the midst of
the fight, and where her foes are rallying their forces,
and rushing onward in one grand assault, hoping to
crush her and hei cause beneath their feet, and to blot
out forever her very name, they become at once
weaker than children, and fear and trembling take
hold upon them."

Mr. Braveheart here spoke, and said, " What has
made them change their tactics so suddenly ? Why
do they act so much like an army of cowards ? "

"Before answering your question," Mr. Deeming
replied, " we will take a survey of the field and of the
combatants. These are ranged under the leaders of
divisions, and under the flags of the division which they
belong to, and each leader has assigned to him the
point of attack. The Pagans under their leaders,
assault the doctrines of one God, and the life beyond
the grave. The Mohammedans make their attack upon
the doctrines of inherent sinfulness, the salvation of
men through an atonement, the spirituality of religion,
and the precepts of the moral law. State-Churchism
attacks the right of private judgment, the liberty of
conscience, nonconformity in belief, the absence of
ritualism in religious worship, and the right of the
laity to take part in the management of the affairs of
the Church. And they all join hands in the attack

386

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

made on the equality of human rights, and the obli-
gations that all are under to God and to society, to
make themselves useful and helpful, according as God
has given them ability, and so far as society furnishes
them with opportunity. To them, the doctrine that
all men have a God-given and an inalienable right to
life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, has too
much of the idea of human brotherhood to suit their
selfish and lofty notions of divine favors being given
only to the great and powerful. They make the assault
at every point, and the battle becomes fierce and fiery,
as the long columns of motley forces press on toward
the Armageddon. The ranks behind shove the ranks
in front, until they are all crowded into one compact
mass of surging humanity.

" And now the din of battle is heard everywhere
and the clash of arms, and the calls of the commanders,
the roar of artillery, the cracks of musketry, the
shrieks of the dying, the groans of the wounded, and
the tramp of the horses, all combine to make the scene
one that has never had an equal since man was upon
the earth.

"And just as there seemed to be a crisis in the
terrible work going on, there is heard, above the noise
of battle, the thrilling, startling words, ' Behold, the
conqueror comes ! '

" In a moment every sound is hushed. The numer-
ous host turn their faces towards the Gospel mountain,
the Armageddon, and coming down its sides they
see a rider on a white horse and he is clothed in gar-
ments stained with blood; and following him are a
numerous retinue on white horses, all clothed in linen
white and clean. On and on the conqueror goes, and
in all directions his enemies fall like grass before the
mower's scythe, until not one of them is found on the
field of strife. The ten-horned beast, the two-horned
beast and the false prophet are slain, and their bodies

Davs of doom.

387

are left upon the field ; and the dragon is taken
prisoner and shut up in Ood's penitentiary to serve
out a terra of a thousand years in close confinement.
The day is won by the conqueror, and the battle of
Armageddon is ended."

"Do you here describe a literal or a spiritual con-
flict ? " inquired Truth.

The interpreter answered, " It implies both. The
contest is between spiritual aud tangible forces ; it is
a contest between Christ and the powers of this world,
marshalled and led by the devil. And the weapons
on one side are the inventions of men, and on the other
side they are the sword of the Spirit and the Word of
God."

" What do you understand to be the real meaning of
all these predictions ? " asked Truth.

Mr. Deeming replied, " To sum up the whole matter
I believe that the following conclusions are as near the
truth as may be found, until the day shall declare it
and the prophecy shall become history.

" Daniel the prophet, in his day, while looking down
the avenues of time, saw four great kingdoms symbol-
ized, first by a great image and afterwards by four
beasts. These four kingdoms reflected the leading
features of all the despotisms of the world, and they
spanned the time from Daniel's day till their final
overthrow at the end of the days, or the period of their
existence.

"Daniel also saw a stone cut out of the mountain with-
out hands, to show that it was not of human origin.
This stone smote the four great kingdoms one after
another, commencing with the last and ending with the
first. And this stone became a great mountain, and
filled the whole earth. These other kingdoms, or
mountains, were like chaff* and the wind, which means
excited public opinion carried them away, and no place
was to be found for them. And the stone became a

388

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

imi

j]rreat mountain and tilled the whole eartli ; that is, civil
society evtrywherc wos governed by it. We have seen
all through our discussions that mountains mean king-
doms. Daniel says the stone smote the other king-
doms (or mountains) and they were broken up, and
carried away by the w ind.

" And John says the seventh angel poured his vial
into the air, v/hich, as we have seen, means public
opinion. Wind is air in motion, and it means public
opinion excited and agitated. Now the seventh vial
being emptied into the air sets it in motion, and the
current of public opinion moves in a certain direction.
And the breeze becomes a gale, and the gale becomes a
sweeping tornado, and under the tremendous pressure
of public opinion, enlightened by the glory of Christ
shining in the Gospel, and warmed by the Sun of
Righteousness, the islands flee away and the moun-
tains are not found.

"Meanwhile the mountain of the Lord has grown, and
fills the whole earth. And I think that Daniel's stone
mountain, the Mountain of the Lord, the kingdom of
Christ, and the Armageddon or Mountain of the
Gospel are only so many different ways of expressing
the same idea."

" Do you think, then," said Truth, " that in the last
great effort of the despots of the world, both in
Church and State, to retard and prevent the extension
of Christ's kingdom, and its beneficent fruits among
the nations, we have the battle of Armageddon ? "

"Yes," said he ; "and wht the enlightened nations
wake up from the slumber or the ages, they will turn
upon their old-time oppressors and sweep them from
the earth, and at the same time they will come under
the peaceful rule of the King of kings and Lord of
lords, and his thousand years of reign on earth will
have commenced."

Here Love, with tearful eyes, said, " When, oh 1
when, Mr. Interpreter, will that blessed time begin ? "

DAYS OF DOOM.

389

Mr. Deeming answered, " That is a hard question,
and it must wait for its answer until the day shall
declare it. But that time will not come until the pro-
phetic numbers are all run out. It' our interpretations
are well founded, the forty-two months of the reign of
the beast and the woman, 1,260 years in the wilder-
ness terminated in 1G88, and the 1,290 days of Daniel
terminated thirty years later, when Parliament relaxed
the Test and Corporations Acts, and allowed dissenters
e(iual privileges with churchmen, in 1718. And we
think the 1,335 days of Daniel ran out in 1763, when
the British Parliament sowed the seeds of the tree of
liberty, which is making such rapid growth in the
soil of the New World. But the number of the two-
horned beast is not yet finished. But if we fix the
date of its commencement at the establishment of the
fii.st Protestant Church, when the Duke Albert of
Prussia established Lutheranism in his duchy in
1525, then we may fix the earliest date of the
beginning of the period. That it may be delayed
beyond that is possible, for God never does anything
in a hurry. But the time will surely come."

CHAPTER XXVI.

THE WORLDS NOONDAY.

m ^1

AT the next meetinc: for studying the roll,
Ecclesia appeared in the most beautiful gar-
ments. And her whole personal appearance .seemed
to be changed. A brijjht smile on her face gave her
features a strange beautv, and the gladness of her heart
shone out of her eyes, and gave evidence that she was
unusually happy. She said, "My heart is fulLto-day,
and I am pleased beyond description at the view that
the future opens up before me and mine.

" But I have been looking into my roll, and I find
some things that puzzle me ; and I would like some
further explanations, if it is not too much trouble to
give them."

Mr. Deeming said, " To do what I can to help you
and all others to understand these predictions affords
me the greatest pleasure. But what have you
selected for our consideration at this time ? "

She read the following passages : " So he carried me
away in the Spirit into the wilderness : and I saw a
woman sit upon a scarlet-coloured beast, full of
names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet
colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and
pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of

THE WORLD S NOONDAY.

391

you

abominations and lilthiness of her fornication." (Rev.
xvii 8, 4.)

And furtl.er on she read, "Babylon the great is
fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and
the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every
unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk
of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the
kings of the earth have committed fornication with
her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich
through the abundance of her delicacies. . . . There-
fore shall her plagues com 3 in one day, death, and
mourning and famine ; and she shall be destroyed with
fire, for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.
And the kings of the earth who have comrisitted
fornication with her, and lived deliciously with her,
shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see
the smoke of her burning. . . . And a mighty angel
took up a stone like a great mill stone, and cast it into
the sea, saying. Thus with violence shall that great
city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no
more at all. . . . And in her was found the blood of
prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon
the earth."

Mr. Deeming said, " We have seen in these conver-
sations that a woman is the symbol of a Chuich. The
Jewish Church was the daughter of Zion. (See Jer. vi.
2 ; 2 Kings xix. 21 ; Ps ix. 14 ; Tsa. xxxvii. 22 ; Zech.
ii. 10; Matt. xxi. 5; John xii. 15.) These passages,
taken from a great number of similar import, show
conclusively that in Old Testament times a woman
was the symbol of a Church.

'* And further, a good, true woman is the symbol of
a Church that is faithful and true to icS (»bligations ;
and a fallen and lewd woman is the symbol of a fallen
Church. (See Amos V. 2 ; Jer. iii. 6-11.) And a bad
woman is also a symbol of a false religion. (Ps. cxxxvii.
8, 9 ; Isa. xlvii.)

392

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

" And in the New Testament, the Church is the
Bride of Christ while it is true to him ; but it' it forms
other alliances, and joins hands with the State and
becomes mixed up with and entanjrled in worldly
aft'airs, then it is no longer the Bride of Christ and the
Lamb's wife, but it becomes a lewd, lecherous, and
adulterous woman."

" Who is the woman here described that is so richly
attired, and so well mounted ?" inquired Truth.

" We have seen her before, and we called her Jeze-
bel ; and we decided that she was the symbol of a
fallen Church, and that the Latin Church was meant,"
answered Mr. Deeming.

" Why do you think that this woman is a symbol of
the Latin Church more than of any other State
Church ? " inquired Ecclesia.

He answered, " The scarlet-colored beast, as we
have seen, represents a system, that system is the
union of Church and State. As the dragon symbolized
Paganism in alliance with the secular government, so
the dragon's deputy, the ten-horned beast, represents a
Paganized system of Christianity in alliance with
secular governments ; and no other Church has con-
trolled and used the secular power as the Latin
Church has done. Other Churches have been subor-
dinate to the State, and the king has been the head of
the Church ; but the Latin Church has dominated the
State, and hence its symbol is represented as riding
the ten-horned beast."

" Well, why are these statements about the woman
and the beast and the downfall of Babylon brought
in here, after the battle of Armageddon?" inquired
Truth.

The interpreter answered, " This is a sort of review
of what has been done under the vials, and something
like this has occurred at the close of each period.
Before the first trumpet there was a pau«e in the pro-

THE world's noonday.

393

3 the
:orms
; and
)rUlly
id the
, and

richly

Jeze-
l of a
leant,'

ibol of
State

as we
lis the
bolized
ent, so
sents a
with
IS con-
Latin
subor-
ead of
ed the
riding

woman
)rought
quired

review

ething

period,
he pro-

phetic narrative until the servants of God wore scaled
in their foreheads, and then the seventh seal introduced
the trumpet period. And at the close of that perio '
there is another pause and a review, in which the char-
acters that had made their appearance during this
period are described, and the manner in which each of
them had been affected by the trumpets is given. There
was the angel with one foot on the sea and the other
on the earth, then there is the m<^ isurins: of the
temple, then the history of the two witnesses is given.
Then the woman and her flight to the wilderness from
the face of the dragon when he makes his appearance
in heaven. Then the ten-horned and the two-horned
beasts make their apearance.

" And after this, the seventh trumpet introduces the
last great woe, which includes the vials of the wrath of
God."

Mr. Braveheart asked, " What is meant here by the
fall of Babylon, and why is that event here coupled
with the overthrow of this woman and her beast ? "

Mr. Deeming replied, " Because the two are so nearly
related that they will stand or fall together. Babylon
means confusion — mixture. That is, tiie mixing to-
gether, in a confused and unholy alliance, things that
should be kept separate. And what was done in Baby-
lon is done by this woman. She claims to be the
Bride of Christ, but in reality she is the mistress of
the kings of the earth, and she gives to them the
place that rightfully belongs to him.

" But more than this, it was at Babylon that the
persecution of dissenters first commenced. True, God's
people had been oppressed in Egypt, but that was not
for their religion. The Egyptians oppressed and mis-
used them on national grounds and as a piece of State
policy. But the king of Babylon passed an Act of
Uniformity enjoining upon all people to accept the

394

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

State relij^ion and worship an ima^e that he had set
up. That meant idolatry or Paf^ani.sin.

Among the subjects of Nebuchachiezzar, the kincf of
Babylon, there were some who would not bow down
to an idol — notably three young Hebrews. They were,
by the king's order, thrown into " ^ery furnace ; but
God would not let them burn. ^. 'r^ '" have the first
instance of legal persecution for lence' sake, and

it grew out of the connection of religion with the
secular government. And from that tAme on, through
all the ages, State-made religions have been an abomi-
nation in the sight of God. And this woman, by
making me of the secular arm to put down dissenters,
has linked her destiny with that of Babylon ; and it is
only fit and right that the two should fall on the same
battle-field. In that order of the king of Babylon to
kill heretics, is found the prelude to every persecuting
edict that has been issued, from the days of Nebuchad-
nezzar down to the latest Papal Bull or kingly
utterance that is fulminated against dissenters. For
this reason it is said that in her was found the blood
of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain
upon the earth."

A SONG OF TRIUMPH.

Ecclesia read more passages that seemed to open up
a new vista in which there appeared visions of beauty
beyond anything that had been seen on earth since
the loveliness of Eden was marred by the ruthless
hand of sin.

She read, " And after these things I heard a great
voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salva-
tion, and glory, and honor, and power unto the Lord
our God. For true and righteous are his judgments: for
he hath judged the great harlot, which did corrupt
the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the

THE WORLD S NOONDAY.

395

great
]alva-

Lord
is: for
Irrupt
Id the

blood oi his servants at her hand. . . . Let us be
glad and rejoice, and give honor unto him : for the
marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath
made herself ready. And to her was given that she
should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white : for
the fine linen .is the righteousness of saints. And he
saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are
called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he
saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God."
(Rev. xix.) " What do you make of these declarations?"
inquired Ecclesia, when she ceased reading.

The interpreter answered, " The first word heard as
the great voice speaks, is a Hebrew word, Alleluia
(praise Jehovah). This is an intimation that the
ancient people of God have learned that the Jehovah
of the Old Testament and the Christ of the New
Testament are one person. The blindness has passed
away, the scales having fallen from the eyes of Israel,
as they did from those of Saul. The Jews are now
Christians. The fulness of the Gentiles is come ; and
now there is neither Jew nor Gentile, male or female,
bond or free, in regard to rights and privileges in the
service of the Lord. The universal Church is here
engaged in giving glory to God for his protection and
his favors. He defended it when it was struggling
for existence, and he supported it during its tight for
the conquest of the world, and he now leads it out
into the noonday blaze of millennial glory. Why
should not the Bride of the King rejoice on her
wedding day, and after all of her enemies are
subdued ? "

" Do you think," said Truth, " that the description
here presented is intended to show the hiijihest and
final state of the woman clothed with the sun? During
this period will she realize all that there is in store
for her?"

Mr. Deeming replied, " I think not. If we look at

hi-i

396

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

• ti

.',

ill]

the past history of the Church, we shall see that her
course thi^oujjjh the a^^es has been marked by cliange
and prog-ress. During the Jewish period, the Church
was a daughter depending on her father for all that
she enjoyed ; but during the Christian era, the ('hurch
is a bride in prospect, affianced to the King of kings.

" We have seen this Bride fleeing from the face of
the dragon, and hiding hensclf in the wilderness for
many long and weary years, where she was hunted by
the beast and hated by Jezebel, his rider ; opposed
by the two-horned beast, and the false prophet ; and
anti-Christ, in all his multifarious forms, did all in his
power to blot out her very name from among the
nations during the time of the world's dark midnight.

"And we have seen her after she was called out of
the wilderness dressed in her working garments, toil-
ing and striving for the regeneration of the race and
the salvation of the world. Toiling on amid discour-
agements and disappointments, until the whole world
was conquered for her Lord. Never faltering, never
wavering. Always faithful and always true. The
object of hatred on the ps.rt of her foes, and the
admiration of angels, she has reached the time of
her nuptials, and her wedding day has come. But we
must remember that her wedding day is not her
coronation day."

" Wherein is the difference between her marriage
and her coronation ?" asked Truth.

Mr. Deeming answered, " By her heroic forti<.ude
and patient fidelity in the dark days of trial, she has
proved herself worthy to be the Bride of the King,
and queen of the kingdom."

A AVEDDING SONG AND FUNERAL DIRGE.

Mr. Deeming went on to say, " W^hen the wontan
was fleeing from the dragon, there were given to her

tHE avorld's noonday.

397

le. bas
King,

the wings of an eagle, th.it she might escape to the
wilderness for safety ; but now she is granted garments
of linen, white and clean, while she awaits the appear-
ing of the expected bridegroom. She patiently
endured hardships and deprivations under the trum-
pets. She diligently and per^everingly did her
work, and performed her duty through the period ol:'
the vials. And now that her Lord is at hand to make
her all his own, and to give her the control* of the
conquered world for a thousand years, she may well
rejoice and be glad. He comes to claim his Bride, and
to scatter her enemies, and to break to pieces her
oppressors, so that they shall be carried away like the
chaff of a summer threshing floor. -f* The saints of the
Most High, the Israel of the New Testament, the
Church ot' God, the Bride, and the Lamb's witV, I
take to be one and the same thing ; so that all the
promises and prophecies of the Old Testament respect-
ing God's ancient people, and that have not yet been
fulfilled, are now the property of the united Church,
that is composed of converted Jews and converted
Gentiles, who are now all one in Christ, and are the
heirs accordin^^^ to promise. And unless we mistake
the import of many promises respecting the future of
the Church, there is to be an interval between the
subjection of the world to Christ by the establishment
of a thoroughly Christian civilization, and the final
winding up of the history of this earth, and the day
of judgment. H' that is not the case, what is to become
of such promises as are found in both the Old and the
New Testaments, in which the glorious reign of Christ

* Daniel vii. 14. Tbo Ancient of Days gives the kingdom
to the Son of Man ; and then it is given to the saints of the Most

High to possess it. (Seo verses 18, 22, 27
16 ; XX. 4.)

Luke i. 'S3 ; Rev. xi.

t See Dan. ii. 35 : Ps. i. 4 ; ii. 10, 35-3G.

!fi '■■

'Ml

398

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

and his Church is spoken of, and in a way that has
never been fulfilled ?* Besides all this, if there is to be
no such general reign of Christ, and if the world is
never to see an example of what Christianity is in its
highest state, as manifested in social and civil life, then
the devil will have whereof to boast. He will claim,
or his subjects may claim for him, that in one day in
Eden he so completely spoiled human society that six
thousand years of divine and human efforts failed to
repair the mischief then and there done."

" What," said Truth, " is to be understood by the
saying that Christ came to destroy the work of the
devil < Does it simply mean the salvation of individual
man ? or does it also include the final restoration of the
world from the curse of sin ? "

Mr. Deeming answered, •' In the salvation of men,
through an atonement, we see the manifestation of the
goodness and mercy of God ; but in driving the devil
out of the world, and in banishinor him from human
society, God is manifesting His justice and His power.
The devil has no right in this world, and the curse
that came upon the earth on account of man's sin will
be taken off, and the fruits and flowers of Eden will
once more grow and flourish in the soil of this earth."

" You spoke a while ago of a wedding song and a
funeral dirge," said Truth, " what did you mean by
them ? "

He answered, " The wedding song is this, ' Let us
be glad and rejoice and give honor to him : for the
of the Lamb is come, and his Bride hath

marriage

* See Ps. ii. 6-9 ; Ps. xxii. 27 ; Ixxii. 12 ; Isa. Ix. 18-22 ; xlix.
22, 23 ; Ix. 4 ; Ixv. 20-26 ; Iv. 13 ; ii. 4 ; Micah iv. 3, 4. Many
more might be given if needed. These passages seem to refer to
a state of things still in the future, and refer to the conditions
of society in the millennial era ; but the many predictions that
point to the conversion of the Jews, and their incorporation into
the Church of the millennium are not cited here.

THE world's noonday.

, xlix.

Many
L-efer to
iditiims
ins that
on into

made herself ready.' The funeral dirge is, 'And the
beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that
wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived
them that had received the mark of the beast and
them that worshipped his image These both were cast
into the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone."

Truth again inquired, " What is the difference be-
tween the wedding song and the coronation song of
the Bride of the King ? "

Mr. Deeming answered, " The coronation song is
sung by angels when the conquering King returns to
the heavenly city accompanied by his Bride, the blood-
washed Church. The song is this, ' Lift up your
heads, ye gates, and be lifted up, ye everlasting
doors, and the King of glory shall come in. Who is
this King of glory ? The Lord strong and mighty, the
Lord mighty in battle.

" ' Lift up your heads, ye gates, even lift them up,
ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory shall
come in.

" ' Who is this King of glory ? The Lord of hosts,
he is the King of glory.' This is the coronation song."

" Well," said Hope, " How long w:U the coronation
be after the marriage is over ? "

The interpreter replied, "A marriaj^'e ceremony is
simply the ratification, before witnesses, of an agree-
ment that has been made between the parties. And
this agreement may have been long before the cere-
mony takes place.

" And on this occasion there are man^ iings that
combine in making the event a most interesting one.
The Bride has many foes, and all that they could do
for her destruction they have done. And at the time
when the Bridegroom is about to make his appearance
those enemies have united and marshalled all their
forces for one great and determined efibrt to drive the
woman out of the world.

h a

118

n."m

400

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

" And at tliis critical juncture the Bridegroom conies,
followed by a cavalcade of heavenly troopers. In the
presence of anoels, men, and devils, he acknowledges
his affianced, who has been true to him through all the
years. 'i'hen he remembers her eneiuies. and rushing
to the field of conflict, he scatters and subdues them.
The battle of Armageddon is ended ; the marriaore of
the Church to her Lord is accomplished, and she com-
mences to reign with him upon the eaith, and the
millennium is ushered in."

"Do you think that the reign will be a literal and
temporal one, or will it be a spiritual reign V inquired
Truth.

" He tells us that his kingdom is not of this world,"

replied the interpreter.

'''And

again, he says, * My

kingdom is within you;' I understand that to mean,
that his kingdom is not like the kingdoms of the
world. Earthly kings govern their subjects by out-
side forces, but he governs his subjects through
spiritual influences working within them ; in that
sense his kingdom is spiritual. But Daniel's stone
mountain, and Isaiah's and Micah's mountain of the
Lord's house into which all nations are to flow, John's
Armageddon, or Gospel mountain, are all descriptive of
the kingdom that the God of heaven was to set up in
this world. And that kingdom is just as nnich a fact
as the four kingdoms symbolized by the image that
Nebuchadnezzar saw in his dream were facts; and
though it is not of the world, yet it is in the world."

"Do you, then, think that Christianity will so com-
pletely permeate human society that its teachings will
become the law of nations, and its principles will be
the bonds that will keep the social structure together ? "
Truth inquired.

" Yes, that is what 1 think," said Mr. Deeming.
" And further, I believe that society will give a more
willing and cheerful obedience to those laws and pre-
cepts than has ever been given to the laws of any

!omes,
In the

ledges
all Uie
Lisbino;

them,
age ot*
e com-
nd the

al and
iquired

world,"

s, ' y^y

) mean,
of the
by out-
:hrongh
in that
's stone
of the
, John's
itive of
t up in
I a fact
that
ts; and
K'orld."
so com-
ngs will
will be
;ether ? "

)eeming.
6 a more
and pre-
of any

lige

THE WORLDS NOONDAY.

401

hation since the law was broken in Eden. This king-
dom will be a literal fact, for it presents a condition of
human society just as surely as any other kingdom
ever did. But it will show a state of society far
beyond anything that has ever been in the world."

Truth again inquired, " Will there be wars and con-
tentions among the nations then ? "

He answered, " No; for the nations are to beat their
swords into pruning hooks and learn war no more.
(Isa. ii. 4 ; Mic. iv. 3.)

" Will there be any murders or violence at the time
we are speaking of ?" asked Love.

" No," again replied Mr. Deeming. " For they shall
not hurt nor destroy, because the earth shall be full of
the knowledge of the Lord." (Isa. xi. 9; Hab. ii. 14.)

" Will there be peace everywhere and among all the
inhabitants of the earth ? " again asked Love.

" Yes ; for the wild beasts and reptiles lose their
ferocious and poisonous instincts. (Isa. xi. 6-9; Ixv.
25.) These declarations may be somewhat figurative,
but they show that peace and concord will be the
prevalent condition of society."

" Will there be any unrequited toil and unremuner-
ated labor in that era ?" asked Hope.

"No," replied he. "They shall not build, and
another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat;
they shall not labor in vain. (Isa. Ixv. 22-25.) Capi-
tal and labor will be so adjusteil that no one will
waste his capital and no one will lose his labor."

Mr. Braveheart asked, " What form of government
do you think will prevail among the people, for there
must be some kind of reifulations to be observed in
individual conduct and national intercourse ? "

THE PEOPLE WILL GOVERN THEMSELVES.

Mr. Deeming said, " Perhaps the highest and most
excellent condition of society, possible in this world, is

402

CLOTHED WITH THE SUI^.

liiiiH

described in the eleventh and sixty-fifth chapters of
Isaiah's prophecy. And what form of government
may prevail among men it would be presumptuous to
hey definitely.

" But it is probable that for convenience the race
will be divided into nations; and there will be laws
of trade and commerce, laws for tlie regulations of
individual right and obligations, and laws respecting
property, and taxation for government expenses. And
in fact, society will make all kinds of laws that may
be found necessary. But these laws will not be
oppressive and tinjust ; they will be siinply the will of
a Christian community embodied in legal form."

" Do you think," said Truth, " that there will ever
be a more exalted and happy condition of humanity
than the one that you have described ? "

"Oh! yes," replied the interpreter. "The inhabitants
of the new Jerusalem in the ncv/ heaven and new
earth will be more exalteii and happ3% because they
will be more secure and more free from the curse of
sin. For in that state there is to be no more death,
nor sorrow, nor crying, nor pain, for former things
will be passed away."

Ecclesia said, " Will you permit me to read a few
lines here that seem to throw light on this subject?"

And she read as follows, "And there came unto me
one of the seven angels, which had the seven vials full
of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying,
Come hither, I will show thee the Bride, the Lamb's
wife. And he carried me away in the spirit to a
great and high mountain, and showed me that great
city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven
from God."

And further on she read, " And the city had
no need of the sun, neither of the moon, for the glory
of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the li<dit
thereof. And Tie nations of them that are saved
shall walk in the light of it ; and the kings of the

THE WORLD S NOONDAY.

40.1

bers of
nment
lous to

TC race
le laws
ions of
pecting
i. And
at may
not be
will of

ill ever
Luianity

ibitants
nd new
se tliey
curse of
e death,
' things

^d a few
bject ?"
unto me
ials full
sayinu',
Lamb's
rit to a
at irreat
heaven

Ity had
ho crlory
he light
saved
s of the

earth do bring their glory and honor into it ; and the
gates of it shall not be shut at all by day ; for there
shall be no night there. And they shall bring the
glory and honor of the nations into it. (Rev. xxi.)

Mr. Deeming said, " I think that you will all agree
with me that the description here given shows a
higher and happier state of societj'' than we have seen
before. And this is just as real as was the condition
of the Church under the trumpets and vials, and as it
will be during the millennium."

Truth here remarked, "The most blind can see a
wonderful contrast between the Church in the wilder-
ness and the same Church in glory."

" That is so," said Truth ; " and the reigning in the
earth during the millennium, and the final home in
glory, are just as much realities as was the suffering
persecutions lirst from Jews, then from Pagans, an(i
then by the beast and his allies. And the woman in
the wilderness was no more a living fact than the
Church in ghjry will one day be a living and unend-

ing fact."

And to think that our humble and unassuming
mistress should, through all these toilsome and weary
years, be '.he symbol of a thing so grand and glorious
as this New Jerusalem almost overcomes me, and fills
me with such awe and admiration that I can hardly
think it possible that I should bo so long with my
loved mistress, and yet know so little about her real
character," Love said, with great earnestness.

" Will there be any disease and death during the
millennium era, and will there be any sinners among
the people then ? " asked Truth.

" There will be death and sickness," said the inter-
preter; "but the laws of health will be so perfectly
understood and so thoroughly observed, that men will
live a great deal longer than they do now, ' For the
days of a man shall be as the days of a tree.' (Isa. Ixv.
22). The oak is said to live 500 years, and sometimes

m I

t'^f

Mrm

404

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

much longer; this seems to restore the longevity of
the antediluvians. And it is said that a child shall die
an hundred years old ; that is, a person that dies at
that age shall be considered as only a child. An hundred
years will be about the same proportion to the aver-
age life that eight or ten years are now. And the
sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed,
or condemned ; society will be so perfectly in accord
with the teaching and principles of the Christian reli-
gion, that any one who lives an hundred years in sin
will be condemned both by the law of God and by
public opinion."

" Can you tell how long this condition of society
will be likely to last ? " asked Truth.

Mr. Deeming answered, " That is a problem that
must wait for its solution until the day shall declare
it. We are told that Satan is to be bound, after the
battle of Armageddon is over, and to be shut up in
prison for a thousand years, and the saints are to live
and reififn with Christ for the same lencrth of time.
But whether these are to be literal or prophetic years
is not said. If it means prophetic time, in which a
day stands for a year, then the millennium will last for
365,000 years ; and I am inclined to the latter view of
the subject, but I would not say defirrtcly which it
will be."

" Well," said Faith, " could the earth sustain the
population that w^ould be on it before so long time has
elapsed ? Would the people not starve for want of
food ?"

Mr. Deeming answered, " Probably one half of the
products of the earth is now wasted in one way or
other ; or, at least, it is not used for human food. And
then the curse of sin will be lifted from liC ground,
and probably one acre will produce as much as f )ur or
five does now ; the waste places shall become fertile
and fruitful, and gormandizing and gluttony will be

THE world's noonday.

405

[ovity of
shall (lie
; dies at
hundred
ihe aver-
And the
iccurscd,
n accord
tian reli-
iro in sin
and by

f society

ilem that
11 declare
after the
ut up in
re to live

of time,
etic years

which a
11 last for
r view of

which it

stain the
: time has
want of

ilf of the
le wav or
ood. And
c qrround,
a,s f )ur or
me fertile
ly will be

unknown among the people. And God ha^ promised
to his people that they that trust in the Lord shall
not want."

Truth said, " Can you tell us what will come at the
close of the millennial era ? "

Mr. Deeming answered, " This is a hard question ;
there seems to be a mystery, and the whole subject is
involved in obscurity. The souls of them that were
beheaded for the witness of Jesus lived and reigned
with Christ a thousand years ; the rest of the dead
lived not till the end of the thousand years. I think
that by the souls of these martyrs is meant their dis-
positions, tempers and spirits lived in and actuated the
great majority of the people during this period. This
is said to be the first resurrection, but the rest of the
dead lived not again till the thousand years expired.
1 understand that to mean the rest of the martyrs ;
that is, their dead bodies did not live again till the
thousand j^ears were finished. Thtn the general resur-
rection comes ; but just then Satan is let out of
prison, and when he finds the \7icked dead already
risen and awaiting the judgment, he persuades them
to join him in one last, great effort against the camp of
the saints, the Church ; and I cannot see where the
numerous host, whose number is like the sands of the
sea, are to come from, unless they are resurrected sin-
ners of all the ages. For I cannot conceive it possible
that at the end of a thousand years of the reign of
truth and righteousness in human society, there would
be found such a vast number of the living that would
turn away from God and his Church at the first
invitation of the Devil. God sends fire and devours or
subdues them ; after this appears the great white
throne and the judgment."

Truth said *' The thou<2:ht that truth and righteous-
ness is to rule human society for so long a time is very
animating to all lovers of that which is good."

iii i'

a,
a I-

*■

406

CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

" Yes," said Mr Deeming, " and it is sure to come ;
for if there is to be no such reign of truth and right-
eousness, then a part of the Lord'^ Prayer is meaning-
less, the hope of the Church a delusion, and many of
the prophecies are misleading.

"Jesus taught His people to pray. Thy kingdom
came, and Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven,
and the godly of all ages have looked hopefully to a
time of great prosperity to the cause of the Redeemer,
and many of the prophecies are full of glowing descrip-
tions of the coming time of the reign of righteous-
ness."

Ecclesia here spoke. " Our conversation must close
for the present, and I would like to say a few words
as regards the past. I will not speak now of the
daughter of Zion as the symbol of the Jewish Church ;
but, since the Bride of Christ, or the Christian Church
symbolized by the woman clothed with the sun, has
been the subject of our studies, I will talk of her.

" And how short the time now seems since a few ob-
scure men were seen following a leader who was said
to be of humble parentage, and lowly birth. Then
there came a day when he was put to death as a crimi-
nal, and his friends were scattered. Then there came
a rumor that he had risen from the dead, and then
he gathered his few friends around him, and gave
them their commission to Christianize the world.
And then, while the Church stood waiting to see what
next was to be done, He ascended up to heaven, and
I, his Bride, was left to battle with sin and Satan, and
conquer the world for Him.

" I feel like closing our conversations with a song.

' ' Once I was standing on a mountain

My Lord and Master by my side,

His love, like overflowing fountain,

Run out to me, His chosen Bride ;
And then I gave Him solemn pledges,
To follow Him through all the ages.

to come ;
id right-
meaning-
many of

kingdom
ri heaven,
ully to a
Redeemer,
gjdescrip-
ifjhteous-

(lust close
ew wor<]s
w of the
I Church ;
n Church
} sun, has
[ her.
a few ob-
wa8 said
bh. Then
,s a criiiii-
here came
and then
and gave
le world.
) see what
iven, and
>atan, and

THE WORLDS NOONDAY.

•' My feet since tlieii were often weary,
As in the path of faith I trod,
That Rometinies seemed so dark and dreary ;

But still it led nie on to God.
And now, I see, that through life's stages,
I've stood upon the Rock of Ages.

" 'Midst poverty and self-denials,

I made Jerusalem my home,
At length it fell ; then sorer trials

Awaited me, in years to come ;
Hated by savages and sages, —
But resting on the Rock of Ages.

*' Then later on, I found me standing
Before a dragon, great and strong ;
And he, in thunder-tones, commanding
That I should mingle with the throng
Who, for his glittering pelf, engages
To turn them from the Rock of Ages.

*' When I refused, with eyes like fire
He sent a flood to end my life ;
On eagles' wings I mounted higher,
And fled from the unequal strife ;
Now he, in bootless fury rages.
While I rest on the Rock of Ages.

" Then, to the ten-horned beast, he proffered
His seat, authority and power.
And he, accepting what was offered,

Began on me his wrath to shower ;
And, with the dragon, he engages
To drive me from the Rock of Ages.

407

1 a song.

" When to the wilderness I hied me,
To find a place of safety there,

'Twas Dhen the ten-horned beast espied me,
And I was hunted everywhere ;

But though he foams, and storms, and rages

I still am on the Rock of Ages.

inn

408 CLOTHED WITH THE SUN.

" Next, the false prophet, like a mountain
Burninj);, was cast into the sea ;

And lust and avarice from this fountain
Sent forth their streams to poison me ;

But this no harm to me presages

While I am on the Hock of Ages.

" Now Jezebel, with eyes that glisten,
With lustful love for earthly kings,
Mounts on the beast, the nations listen.

While she, like some sweet siren sings;
Till, in response, each king engages
To drive me from the Rock of Ages.

"And now, a two-horned beast arises
Out of the earth, with gentle mien,
Who, with the skin of lamb disguises,

So that himself cannot be seen;
And he no good to me presages, —
But still, I'm on the Rock of Ages.

" Disfranchised everywhere I found me;

Rights, civil and religious, lost,
And nowhere could I call around me

My frienfls, unless at fearful cost;
But when the fiercest battle rages,
I stand upon the Rock of Ages.

" I now am waiting for the glory

That comes for faithful work, well done,
To finish my eventful story

On the bright plains around the throne ;
And though Heaven's song my tongue engages,
I'll still rest on the Rock of Ages."

RESPONSE.

' ' Go on, and meet thy Lord up yonder,
Thou faithful, suliering, trusting wife;
And well may angels look and wonder

That thou hast conquered in this strife ;
But tell them that through all life's stages,
Thou wert standing on the Rock of Ages."

(