THE BATTLE
OF
ARMAGEDDON

or

The World's Last Conflict Between Civil and Religious Liberty on the One Side, and Political and Ecclesiastical Despotism on the Other

by Rev. F. E. Pitts
Feb. 22 and 23, 1857
(About 145 years ago.)

   The voice of the prophetic Scriptures frequently and fully announces the warfare of the world. Preparation for ages has anticipated the struggle; while the clangor of its trumpets is almost heard marshaling its millions to the charge.

   It is true as destiny, and the gathering storm is rising. In the volume of inspiration it is termed, "The Battle of God," "The Battle of Armageddon, "and "The Battle of that great day of God Almighty."

   It is symbolized by Daniel in the smiting of the monarchial image by the mountain-stone; by the casting down of the thrones before the Ancient of days; by the destruction of the willful king upon the mountains of Israel, when he shall "plant the tabernacles of his palace between the two seas. "It is Michael and his angels warring with the dragon and his angels; it is the conquest won by the man on a white horse, who was "crowned with many crowns,'" it is the taking of "the beast and the false prophet;" it is the reaping the harvest of the world and the gathering of the vintage of the earth.

   It is literally described by Ezekiel, when the chief prince of Meshech, Gomer, Tubal, and Magog, with the multitudinous hosts from Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya, invades "the land of unwalled villages." It is the immense armament described by Joel when he exclaims, "Multitudes! multitudes in the valley of decision!'' It is described by the Savior to be "a time of trouble such as never shall be till that day." It is the "gathering together of the kings and nations of the earth to the battle of that great clay of God Almighty."

   Such, my countrymen, are some of the unquestionable and sublime allusions in the many, very many Divine declarations that announce the grand and terrible catastrophe -- declarations that the clearest acumen and most direct philosophy of language must legitimately apply to the rapidly approaching tempest.

   Nevertheless, like all other truths of the inspired volume, however overwhelming the sublimity of the theme, no violence is offered to reason, nor unnecessary embargo im­posed upon the faith of mortals.

   What subject could possibly enlist a world in arms, if it be not the principle of civil and religious liberty? All other questions, however vital and important, are but local in their influence, and the weightiest results must necessarily be sec­tional. But the principle of popular freedom is capable of universal diffusion, and must ultimately be commensurate with the nations of the earth. It lies at the foundation of our being, and forms the very texture and fabric of human nature: nay, the very law of our great Creator, and every specification growing out of that law, bear directly upon this twofold principle. To love God and our neighbor plainly indicates the foundation of all true order in the governmental codes of the earth.

   Freedom to worship God, and equitable reciprocities amongst our fellow creatures; wherever these first and great commandments are disregarded by the governments on earth, monarchy, absolutism, or anarchy is found to exist; and this form of government being unfriendly to the free worship of the true God, and a usurpation of the prerogatives of a people to govern themselves, always has been, and ever will be, an uncompromising enemy to civil and religious liberty, until it is annihilated from the nations of the earth.

   True, both principles are aggressive, and must continue to enlarge their bounds until a final collision must exterminate the one or the other.

   The outbreaks in ages past were only occasional or accidental; still, even in those times monarchy always reconnoitered with a sleepless vigilance every demonstration of popular freedom; and the genius of Republicanism has ever been prompt to prove its utter, uncompromising hostility to monarchy. But in those ages the world was too far apart, the knowledge of the nations too limited, and their contact with one another so seldom, that they seemed to live in com­parative indifference to one another.

   But now, since intellectual and moral light is reaching every shore; commerce spreading every where; the formal representatives of all na­tions at the world's fairs, in London, New York and Paris; since the wonderful discoveries of gold in California and Australia, bringing the nations together; and since the facilities for travel by land and by sea, and the intercom­munication of the magnetic telegraph -- the world has come into such immediate proximity, the great issue must come off. The hostile forms of government are now clearly defined and well understood; and the two geniuses, like two Caesars, can not live in the same world together much longer. For if Republicanism be a failure, it will be overthrown; and if Absolutism be offensive to God, and an outrage upon the people, its days are destined to be numbered.

   The truth, as announced in the Bible, of the coming conflict, has always been received in the Church, because too obvious to be questioned. Both Jews and Christians maintain it as a subject of Divine revelation: but as they have almost in­variably misapplied the passages that foretold a great nationality, by referring them to the Jews, it necessarily led them to lay the scene of the last great battle in the land of Palestine. That the scattered Jews would return to Judea, and the nations and kingdoms of the earth would send an armament of millions to crush out a handful of unambitious people, whom the clemency of Christian countries favored in their return -- how perfectly ridiculous!

   Were all the Jews on earth restored to the small territory of Palestine, what temptation or provocation could they offer to arouse the allied armies of earth to invade them?

   No, my countrymen, it is not ancient Jewry that will witness this invasion. There is another Israel, the Israel of America, that has given monarchy more disquietude than ancient Israel ever did in all its glory. And here alone monarchy will find a foeman worthy of its steel, and the only nation on the globe that can measure arms with kings.

   Twice in the very infancy of our nation's history the proudest empire on the face of the earth had to pay an in­voluntary obeisance to the chivalry of our army. But now the young eaglet is fully fledged, and cleaves the heights of heaven, it might be indiscreet to provoke the glance of his eye or the thunder of his pinions. So at least we think.

   We shall first notice the preparatory movements that will finally marshal the allied hosts to battle:

    "And the sixth angel poured out his vial upon the great river Euphrates; and the water thereof was dried up, that the way of the kings of the east might be prepared. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, for they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty ... And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon."

   Now, observe, whatever may be the meaning of the sublime events mentioned in the foregoing passage, they must relate to the preparatory measures that bring on the battle of that great day.

   Let us, then, examine the quotation by the most reliable rules of interpretation. A "river" in the symbolic prophecies, according to the admission of the best commentators, symbolizes a national commotion. Then, "the great river Euphrates, "that swept by ancient Babylon, must represent a commotion or revolution among the nations; but this scene is laid under the sixth vial, which is now acknowledged to embrace the beginning of the present century. Well, then was there ever a greater commotion among the nations than the revolutionary upheavings of the people under the genius of great Napoleon? But "the waters of that river were dried up. "This was done at the battle of Waterloo. "That the way of the kings of the east might be prepared."

   During the storm that was raging throughout Europe under Bonaparte, the allied monarchs that were united to overthrow him found it very inconvenient to act in concert; but immediately after Napoleon was banished to a distant island, there was an assemblage of the principal monarchs: Russia, Prussia, Austria, and England. Though the King of England could not be there in person -- for the old man was crazy -- yet his regent was there, and represented him in that conference, that was called "The Triple Alliance."

   This name may have been given to this conclave of kings from the three principal monarchs in attendance. But this "triple alliance" has a stronger claim to its threefold character from the three doctrines, asserted, signed and sealed by this convention of sovereigns. There were precisely three doctrines or principles: Absolutism, Church Supremacy, and Legitimacy, or the Divine right of kings. How perfectly fulfilled the prophecy!

   "And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come but of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. These are the spirits of devils." The three dogmas are here pronounced to be the spirits or doctrines of devils. All doctrines are the doc­trines of devils that are opposed by Divine revelation; but Ab­solutism, Church Supremacy, and Divine right of kings, are opposed by the word of God; consequently, the three doc­trines of the "Triple Alliance" are the doctrines of devils, and specifically fulfill the prophecy. "Which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them together to the battle of that great day of God Almighty."

   These foul principles represented by unclean frogs will summon around the thrones of monarchies the dupes of despotism, and enlist and muster into service the countless legions that shall compose that fearful armament. "And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue "Armageddon." On that last great battle-field, the doctrines of the Triple Alliance, with the hosts of their deluded defenders, shall perish forever.

   We now notice some of the symbols of that final engagement, the war itself.
"Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure."

   The four great successive monarchies on earth, as seen in the dream of Nebuchadnezzar, we have shown in our former address to be represented by the metals composing the great image. From the first or golden headed kingdom, the whole of monarchy, to its final overthrow, was represented; for after the annihilation of this image, not the smallest principle or fragment should remain. "Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing-floors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them."

   But how are we to understand all these great monarchies to be destroyed at once, "broken to pieces together," unless we understand that before the image is smitten by the stone, there must be a reconstruction of all the principles and powers, glory and grandeur, weakness and wickedness, embodied in the corporate image, and represented by the different metals. Such an accumulation of all the principles of monarchy, in some colossal giant of autocracy, must appear in huge embodiment: "the form thereof," like its symbol, will be "terrible."

   Now, as we have plainly proved that the stone or fifth kingdom that destroys the image is a different kind of government altogether from monarchy, and hostile to it, that fifth government must be a great Republic. In truth, as monarchy restored is seen in the image, Israel, or a providential Republic, must be restored also, in order to the destruction of monarchy.

   Let those divines who suppose that Christianity is "the stone cut out of the mountain without hands." Which of the four great empires did Christianity destroy?· The truth is, the Assyrian, the Medo-Persian, and the Macedonian kingdoms had passed away long before Christianity was born. And as for Rome, certainly no good Christian would ever dream that the barbarian hordes from the North who overran the Roman Empire were either good or bad Christians.

   From this symbol we are clearly taught:

First. That the whole of monarchy, from the Assyrian down to its utter destruction, is represented in the dream.

Second. That a political government, unconnected with, different from, and hostile to monarchy, would providentially arise in the divided age of the Roman Empire.

Third. That this fifth or stone government would destroy the last vestige of monarchy from the face of the earth.

Fourth. That the destruction of monarchy will be effected by military power. The strong language employed to describe the destruction of the metallic image cannot refer to the gentile and inoffensive religion of Christ. The power of moral suasion, by gradual influence, will -change the heart and manners of men.. But to overthrow at one single blow a vast political organization, combining millions of subjects, the custom of ages, and the  wealth of nations, and that, too, by the mild and gentle genius of a religion whose great Author was meek and lonely, and whose kingdom was not of this world, is of of the question.

   I'he very terms used to describe the destruction of the Macedonian Empire by the Romans are also employed to show the annihilation of all the empires by the stone. Now, the conquests made by Rome were effected by the prowess of her arms: none will deny this. If, therefore, Rome herself and the balance of the kingdoms are to be destroyed, it must be by military power also.

   The destruction effected by this fearful power is complete, for the image is broken and reduced to infinitesimal atoms: it is scattered to the winds, like chaff from the summer's threshing-floors.

   As this conflict puts a final end to all earthly monarchy, and as all political governments are either autocratic or democratic, and as the fifth government is to "Become a great mountain and fill the whole world," the conclusion is forced upon us that one of the grand missions of the providential Republic of America is the final overthrow of monarchy and the extension of the principles of popular freedom over the whole world.

   The vision of Daniel the prophet was a corroboration of the dream of Nebuchadnezzar the king. The four beasts of Daniel answer to the four metals of the image. The ten horns on the head of the fourth beast answer to the ten toes on the feet of the image. The little horn having eyes, that arose on the head of the last beast, and amongst the other horns, symbolized an ecclesiastical connection with the state, and answers to the union of the clay and iron in the feet.

   The rise of the Ancient upon a chariot throne symbolizes a pure political government, combining the principles of a confederated republic, such as was the "ancient" form of government given to the Jews, and answers to the stone "cut out of the mountain without hands." The casting down of the thrones before the Ancient answers to the smiting of the monarchial image by the stone. The coming of "one like to the Son of man to the Ancient," and the "dominion given to the people of the saints," answer to the stone becoming "a great mountain and filling the whole earth;" and both symbolize the universal spread of civil and religious liberty, until the millennial glory of Christ shall cover the earth as the waters cover the seas.

   The vision is indeed a sublime one; and the inexpressible grandeur of the scene has inclined most men to suppose that "the Ancient of days" was the Almighty Father. But how can this be? For this is evidently a judgment-scene of the doom of monarchy; for this alone, it seems, the judgment did sit and "the thrones were cast down." But "the Father judgeth no man."

   God the Father is in no place in the Scriptures represented by a human form. Besides, the Almighty is not the "Ancient of days:" he is the Ancient of eternity. And the term "days" is evidently used in this passage to let men understand that the vision refers to time, and its scenes are to be transacted on earth. Nor can the "Ancient" refer to the Son of man, for it is written in the vision that "one like unto the Son of man came to the Ancient" afterwards.

   "And there was war in heaven.' Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out." Revelation 12:7, 8.

   This passage is another symbolic announcement of the grand conflict. The contending armies, the battle-scene and its results, are respectively mentioned.

   "A dragon," being fabulous, is necessarily a symbol; for, although the word has been applied first to one beast and then to another, there is no certainty if it had any identical original, But the tyrants of the ancient kingdoms were called dragons: the despots of Egypt in particular were denominated thus. The Scriptures being then their own interpreter, a dragon is the symbol of political despotism.

   Now, as the one part is symbolic, the other must be also. Then "Michael" is not, in this case, a literal angel, butt stands as the representative of a power opposed to autocracy, That power can only be the genius of popular freedom Perfectly  agreeable to this definition is the character drawn of this same Michael in the Book of Daniel. He is there called "Michael the great prince, that standeth for the children of thy people.'" that is, he is the sovereignty of the people. The term "heaven" in the passage is also symbolic, and means, when used in the Apocalypse, the place of the Church, as the term "earth," when employed under the same circumstances, refers to the seat of the old Roman Empire. As for "war in heaven," the place of future blessedness, no dragon or war will ever be known there; for "there the wicked cease to trouble, and the weary are at rest."

   Then the war which is to take place between Michael and his angels on the one side, and the dragon and his angels on the other, must foretell the final battle that must inevitably occur between civil and religious liberty and its armies and monarchy and its armies, which, according to the prediction, closes with the glorious triumph of the former over the ruin and annihilation of the later.

   "Michael, the great prince that standeth for thy people" must then, in the book of Revelation, be understood as the symbolic embodiment of popular sovereignty. But, my countrymen, if any one man that ever lived on earth is entitled to be called Michael, the great prince that standeth for the people, it is George Washington the friend of liberty, and the father of his country.

   "And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse,' and he that sat upon him, .. and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns .... ,And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet... And the remnant were slain with the sword of him
that sat upon the horse." Revelation 19.

   From the best annotators of prophecy, the following is the true and legitimate interpretation of the terms employed:

First. A "horse" is a symbol of some form of religion; consequently, a "white horse" must represent a pure and divinely authorized religion.

Second. A "man" symbolizes a political government.

Third. "Crowns" represent sovereignties: "many crowns upon his head" -- many State sovereignties united in one political union or confederation. When this same symbolic personage appeared as "the man-child, "the number of States represented by the stars were twelve, then thirteen; but now, since the infant "is one hundred years old" at the commencement of the great war, he appears on the battle-field, "crowned with many crowns" -- many more States in the confederacy than at the beginning.
 

   Then, we behold in this vision of St. John a political government embracing a confederation of many State sovereignties, acknowledging and confiding in one true and divinely sanctioned religion.

   That the United States of America answers to this pic­ture, our very national "E PLURIBUS UNUM" declares.

   Here again we behold the forces of monarchy mustered to give battle to a free confederated Republic that sanctions the only true religion. "For the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat upon the horse, and against his army."

   The taking of the beast, and the false prophet, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, and the slaying of the remnant by the sword of him that sat upon the horse, foretell the over­throw and utter destruction of the allied armies of monarchy, by an enlightened confederated Republic in one great decisive battle.

   The symbols are so numerous, the imagery so perfectly descriptive of each respective scene, and the correspondence of each member so wonderfully adapted to complete the symmetry of the whole, we are bound to behold their fulfillment in the rise and growing grandeur of a great consolidated Republic on the one hand, and the reconstruction of the autocracy of antiquity in some vast empire on the other. These two colossal powers will meet in a last decisive struggle.

   So far as the historic panorama has disclosed the subject, the accumulating coincidences are remarkably true, and on a sublime scale. These two great powers are the United States of America and the monarchy of Russia, both extending the magnitude of their greatness; so that, in the present state of affairs, a perfect coincidence of facts answers a perfect description of prophecy. We look to the future for the finale of these startling wonders, to be fulfilled in a conflict that will enlist all nations, stir the world with commotion, and drench the earth with blood.

   We now call your attention to a literal and most graphic description of the last conflict.

   Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, while amongst the captives by the river Chebor, saw the heavens open, and had visions of God.

   In the thirty-eighth and thirty-ninth chapters of his prophecy, he gives us a full, literal, and detailed description of this battle; yet it is most astonishing that although this ac­count is plain, presenting in the concrete and the minutiae the whole subject, commentators in the old continent declare that it is the most mysterious and perplexing portion of all Ezekiel's writings. Did it not appear uncharitable, we would be led to suppose that the only difficulty in the case was the doom of monarchy, so plainly announced, that a legitimate comment of its true meaning might not be favorably received by the fawning friends of the political systems of the old world. But God "has magnified his word above all his name,"

"And what his mouth in truth hath said,
His own almighty hand will do."

   The invading army, and the multitudinous hosts of its allies, are particularly mentioned by their appropriate names and the countries they represent; the geographical location and territorial description of the land to be invaded; the character of its inhabitants, their quietude and prosperity; the unprovoked nature of the attack; the suicidal policy of the in­vasion, as declared by the almighty; the solicitude of the invaded people to know the cause of the campaign; the universal agitation and commotion of the whole people so invaded; the battlefield; the Divine interposition in behalf of the invaded; the unbroken unanimity of all the States and Territories in resisting the foe; the overwhelming triumph over monarchy; the immensity of the armament, as seen in the sepulture of the slain and the wrecks of battle; the simultaneous insurrection of the subjects of monarchy at home; the glorious results of the contest: the annihilation of despotism, and the world wide extension of popular freedom -- all, all are announced in the program of the prophet.

   First, then, let us know who leads this invasion?

   "Son of man, set thy face against Gog, the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him, and say, Thus saith the Lord God: Behold, I am against thee, 0 Gog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal: and I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords: Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shield and helmet: Gomer, and all his bands, the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands: and many people with thee."

   Now, whosoever these people may be, "the chief prince, "or great leading sovereignty of the invasion is found among them. Hence this direct address of the Almighty to that prince. And that this prince is the headship of the alliance is evident from God's personal message to him: "Be thou prepared, and prepare thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them." Here, then is the leading power marked out in the prophecy, to which the allied armies will be assembled.

   This overwhelming power we shall demonstrate to be Russia.( Editors note. This sermon was preached in 1857. 145 years ago. The cold war is over and Russia did not invade. So the question remains. Who is the Gog/Magog to invade America? Pitts possible error in identifying Russia as Gog and Magog does not change the prophecy, just our understanding of it. Click here to read George Washington's vision.)

   The very names of the ancient patriarchs of the Russian dominions determine their location and nationality.

"Gog" signifies a prince or head of many countries.

"Magog, Gomer, Meshech, and Tubal, "are four of the seven sons of Japheth. (See Genesis 10; I Chronicles 1.)

These patriarchs, according to Calmet, Brown, Bochart, and others, settled within the bounds of what is now the Russian dominions.

"Magog," says Josephus, "founded the Magogue, whom the Greeks call Sythee." Now, these Scythee are the Scythinas who form almost one-fourth of Russian population. They extended from Hungary, Transylvania, and Wallachia, on the west, to the River Dan on the east. The Russian territory of this people embraces a large portion both of Europe and Asia.

"Meshech," the sixth son of Japheth, settled in the north-eastern portion of Asia Minor. His posterity extended from the shores of the Euxine Sea along to the south of Caucasus. He was the father of the Rossi and Moschi, who dispersed their colonies over a vast portion of Russian territory. And their names are preserved in the names of Russians and Moscovites to this day. The Septuagint version of the Old Testament renders the term Meshech by the words Mosch and Rosch; while Moscory is a common name of Russia, and the city of Moscow is one of their principal cities.

   "Tubal," or Tobal, the fifth son of Japheth, settled beyond the Caspian and Black Seas in the eastern possessions of Russia, embracing a very large portion of those dominions. The name of this patriarch is still preserved in the river Tobal, which waters an immense tract of Russian territory; and the city of Tobalski in Russia is still a monument to this son of Japheth.

   From all which, it is certain that, as Magog, Meshech, and Tubal compose the present possessions of Russia, the sovereignty of that empire is the chief prince addressed in the prophetic message.

   "Gomer, and all his bands; the house of Togarmah of the north quarters, and all his bands, and many people with' thee."

   "Gomer, "another son of Japheth, settled farther down westward in Europe; and has left his name entailed in Hungary, in a city and country both known to this day as the city and country of Gomer.

   "Togarmah," the son of Gomer, according to Cicero and Strabo, not only peopled a large portion of Western Europe, but sent settlements into Turcomania and Scythia in Russia.

   Russia, then according to the Scriptures, is the headship or leading power around which the multitudinous armies of allied monarchy shall be gathered together.

   "Persia, Ethiopia, and Libya with them; all of them with shieM and helmet."
Persia here represents the swarming hosts from the Asiatic possessions; Ethiopia, and Libya, the armies of Africa.

   "Thou shalt ascend and come like a storm, thou shalt be like a cloud to cover the land, thou, and all thy bands, and many people with thee."

   The invasion is here announced by an armament such as the world never saw. For the millions that are to assemble under Gog or Russia embrace nearly all of Europe, as well as a large portion of Asia and Africa. This army is drafted from three continents to invade a fourth. It rises dismal as a cloud, and dreadful as a storm.

   We must look to Russia, then, as the colossal giant of reconstructed monarchy, embodying the whole of autocracy in the last grand organization -- embracing all the principles foreshadowed in the metallic symbol of the vision "whose brightness was excellent, and the form thereof terrible." In fact, the Emperor of all the Russians still bears the royal cognomen of the golden-headed monarchs of ancient Babylon.

   Who is the present Emperor of Russia? Alexander the Czar. And who are found among the monarchs of Assyria? Nobonazar, Nebuchadnezzar, and Belshazzar. These were not accidental terminations of their respective names, but were doubtless terms of Assyrian royalty. So also the Roman Caesars, which scarcely vary from the true pronunciation of the czars.

   We behold in Russia the original trunk of autocracy. In the time of Catharine, she arose in august magnitude, and entered into the European state system about the time of the rise of our great country. We see rising on the one hand and on the other, the two great powers that represent respectively their opposing principles of government that will come in collision in the last dreadful fray.

   The United States of America, young and vigorous, arising in the Northern temperate zone, with untold resources, extending its borders from sea to sea, and from the lakes in the North to Heaven only knows how far South -- she is the enlightened and uncompromising representative of popular freedom. And there is Russia in gigantic proportions, arising also in the Northern temperate zone, with her million of warriors, now occupying one-seventh of earth's terra-firma, stretching from the Black Sea to the Arctic Ocean, and from the Baltic on the West, till her Cossacks almost hear the British drums beat in farther India. And she is the represen­tative of absolutism.

   These ascending powers, like two towering clouds culminating in the heavens, surcharged with electric ruin, will shock the world with their collision, and bathe the world in blood.

   But allied with Russia will be the teeming myriads from all the empires on earth except France -- belle France. France will be with us in the end, as she was with us in the beginning.* We feel warranted for this position.

   (*In delivering the above sentence in the Hall of Representatives, the assembly turned their attention to a large life-like portrait of Lafayette, hanging on the walls of the Capitol, opposite that of Washington. We had not observed Lafayette's portrait till that moment, as it was on our left. The expression, "France will be with us in the end, as she was with us in the beginning," seemed to make profound sensa­tion, as they saw no other nation on the canvas but France and America. The coincidence was impressive upon our own mind as it evidently was with the audience.)

   Commentators agree, that when the state system in Europe is represented in the Apocalypse by the celestial bodies, France is appropriately denominated "the sun," not only from its vivacity and brilliancy, but especially from its central position to the rest of Europe. "And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come, and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God, that ye may eat the flesh of kings," etc. Revelation 19. This angel, must, therefore, represent the genius of France, rejoicing over the downfall of monarchy; consequently, will be with America in the final struggle. A strong under-current for civil and religious liberty has frequently risen to the surface in the French nation; and under its power she will break her alliance with monarchy, and join the standard of liberty against the despotism of the world.

   But England, true to her proud autocracy, will die for the Divine right of kings. Her policy will not be influenced by language, religion, nor blood; but in the final onset she will join the crusades against America.

   When was she ever known to favor an oppressed people attempting to throw off the yoke of despotism? Look at her tender mercies toward her own children when struggling in the war in Independence. See how she let loose "the horrible hell-hounds of savage cruelty," when she turned the bloody Indian, with tomahawk and scalping-knife, upon helpless women and children; and even rewarded the savage furies with a pound sterling for every scalp that was taken, whether from the poor old man, the defenseless mother, or the sucking babe.

   Look at her cruelties with her pagan slaves in India. Even now, who can look to China without emotion? Behold how she gloated over ill-fated Hungary. When the friends of freedom were immolated in crowds by Austrian despots --when delicate females were cowhided in the streets by the incarnate fiend Haynau -- England, by a nod, could have sup­pressed the whole. Talk of English sympathy for the children of Africa in America!

   What consummate hypocrisy! when, at the same time, thousands of her own pauper people are suffered to live like beasts, or rather to die like dogs, if not con­fined for long years in her mines, without seeing the light of day, but working in traces like mules, on all-fours, to fatten the fortunes of English aristocracy. Do you doubt the picture? it is drawn by an official report to Parliament. Alas, let Ireland, from centuries of miserable oppression, say what heart has England to aid the friends of freedom against the despotisms of usurpation.

   No: England will be allied with Russia. Her policy, not her love, may sustain amicable relations while it suits her, but no longer. But her glory is departing. She has gambled with the world till she has lost the sword. When the Empress of the British Isles visited the tomb of Napoleon, to pay honor to the ashes of the dead whom her own government had outlawed while living, it was then England's waning renown was seen in the rising splendors of the French nation. "Ichabod" is already written on the palaces of her power. Self-preservation will conglomerate the autocratic powers of the Old World in one stupendous attack upon that nation whose republican principles and brilliant example have already disquieted the repose of princes, and made each royal diadem a crown of thorns.

   "Thus saith the Lord God.' it shall also come to pass, that at the same time shall things come into thy mind, and thou shalt think an evil thought. Thou shalt say, I will go up to the land of unwalled villages: I will go to them that are at rest, that dwell safely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having neither bars nor gates. To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people that are gathered out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell in the midst of the land. "Ezekiel 38. The Almighty pronounces the invasion impolitic -- that the expedition was from "an evil thought;" and what was foreseen and foretold to be planned in weakness or wickedness, will, by its disastrous realization, confirm the truth of the Divine declaration.

   The land to be invaded is, in the foregoing quotation, a literal and true description of the United States, and can apply to no other country or people under heaven. A country highly elevated -- the land once a wilderness or desolate, but now inhabited -- a "land of un walled villages".., a "people gathered out of the nations" -- a people "that dwell safely" -- proprietors of the country, dwelling at rest -- a people pro­sperous in their fortunes, having "gotten cattle and goods, dwelling in the midst of the land." It is the same country described by the prophet "between the two seas;" and by Daniel, when, after describing the conquests of "the willful king of the North, "(Russia), in carrying his victorious armies "into the glorious land," (Palestine), he hears tidings from the North and from the East which trouble him, and he "comes in great wrath" away from Palestine, and plants the tabernacles of his palaces "in the glorious holy mountain." Upon this high country he falls, and is "broken without hands. "This glorious mountain cannot be Judea, for the in­vader has just returned from Judea to "go up to the land of unwalled villages."

   "After many days' thou shalt be visited: in the latter years thou shalt come unto the land that is gathered out of many people... I will bring thee forth, and all thine arm)', horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armor, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords. "Observe, the scene of this battle is laid "in the latter years," which must correspond with the conflict which is yet to come; the expression being always understood in prophecy to refer to the thrilling times immediately preceding the millennium. The diversity of the implements of battle indicates the many nationalities enrolled for battle. Perhaps "horses and horsemen" peculiarly refer to the resources of Russia, who boasts that she can bring a million men into the field.

   The battlefield -- the Valley of the Mississippi: "And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will give unto Gog a place there of graves in Israel, the valley of the passengers on the east of the sea." Ezekiel 39:11.

   The philosophy of our language settles the location. When two things of the same class are spoken of in the same sentence, it is according to rhetoric, in referring to the greater of the two, simply to use the definite article "the." As the prophet had referred to both seas, the eastern and the great western, now it was proper simply to say "the sea;" that is, the Pacific, because it is the greater. This valley lies on the east of the Pacific, then, which is precisely the relative posi­tion of the Valley of the Mississippi. But this valley east of the Mississippi is "the valley of passengers."

   How justly entitled to this appellation is our great Valley, more peculiarly so than any valley in the known world! See the thousands of vessels that convey tens of thousands of passengers on more than fifty thousand miles of the Father of Waters and its navigable tributaries! Look at the immense trains of people that daily traverse this valley in railroad cars, while caravan after caravan of emigrants are, and have been for years, pressing to the great West to dwell in all our vast new States and Territories -- and their number increases by swarming thousands! The Valley of the Mississippi, then, on the east of the sea, is "the valley of passengers," and this is the battlefield of that last great conflict; for "there," says God, "will I give to Gog, and to the many people that are with them, a place of graves." Joel lays the scene of this startling and sublime event also in a valley: "Multitudes! multitudes in the valley of decision!"

   The excitement and commotion amongst our own people will be overwhelming and universal. "In that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel, so that the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of heaven, and the beasts of the field, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth, and all the men that are upon the face of the earth, shall shake at my presence, and the mountains shall be thrown down, and the steep places shall fall, and every wall shall fall to the ground."

   A time, indeed, of great consternation and trouble, such as has never been since the world began!

   But firm and unbroken in the dreadful shock, our confederated Republic will remain an undivided unit. For, says God, "I will call for a sword throughout all my mountains." Every State and Territory will be in the field. Our glorious Union, then, from a Divine promise, shall never dissolve. No storm-cloud in the North, or volcanic eruption in the South, will ever divide our great country. Our noble vessel, with her live-oak timbers, will reel and quiver in the dreadful squall, but she will never founder! A child of Providence, born in the
tempest and cradled in the storm, was early disciplined for the august destiny that awaits it:

"A union of lakes, and a union of lands,
A union no power shall sever;
A union of hearts, and a union of hands,
And the American Union for ever!"

   In the darkness of that dreadful day, when the heavens are hung with the clouds of war, and the earth vibrates with the peals of battle; when the face of the valiant pale, and the heart of the brave is troubled; while storms portentous of an­nihilation howl around like the wailing of the damned -- "all these are but the beginning of sorrow:" '[for there shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be."
It will be then, my countrymen, and not till then, that the heart of our great people will begin to understand the im­mediate presence of Almighty God, and the supervision of his providence in the rise, preservation, and destiny of our glorious Republic. "So I will make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more. "Ezekiel 39.

   In the universal calamity of those troublous times, we will be impelled to call upon Jehovah; ,and nothing, can so effectually reveal the Divine presence and power as a whole na­tion looking to Heaven for help. To realize our dependence on Almighty God, and fully to know and appreciate the supervision of his hand, is doubtless one of the wise and gracious designs for the stormy ordeal through which we will pass. For in the Very midnight of our troubles, Heaven will appear to our rescue. "It shall come to pass at the same time, when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord God, that my fury shall come up in my face... I will put hooks in thy jaws, and turn thee back... I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains... And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood; and I will rain upon him, and upon his bands, and upon the many people that are with him, an overflowing rain, and great hailstones, fire and brimstone.

   "Thus will I magnify myself, and sanctify myself, and I will be known in the eyes of many nations, and they shall know that I am the Lord... And I will smite thy bow out of thy left hand, and will cause thine arrows to fall out of thy right hand. Thou shalt fall upon the mountains of Israel, thou, and all thy bands, and the people that is with thee: I will give thee unto the ravenous birds of every sort, and to the beasts of the field, to be devoured. Thou shalt fall upon the open field: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord God. "Ezekiel 39.

   A similar description, with the same sublime imagery, of this battle of the great day of God Almighty will be found in the Revelation of John the evangelist. Both accounts close with the deep-toned period: "Behold, it is done, saith the Lord God." How immense that army! -- doubtless many times greater than the forces with which Xerxes crossed the Hellespont into Greece; and he led two millions six hundred thousand warriors, besides as many more sutlers and followers of the camp. How wide and dreadful the carnage! This we learn from the seven months occupied in burying the dead, for the victors were employed all that time in the rites of sepulture; and then the wreck of battle left implements enough to be used as fuel for seven years.

   At the very time of the overthrow of Monarchy in the field, a revolutionary "fire breaks out in the land of Magog" and in the isles of the sea: the friends of freedom at home in Russia and Great Britain strike for liberty, and the work is done.

   So closes the conflict of the world. Now paeans of gladness ring through the earth, while emancipated millions join the general joy. "And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia.' for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth."

   Henceforth, "nations shall learn war no more." Confederated Republics, under the counsel and example of the United States, will arise in the former, "habitations of dragons," and the "deserts" of cruelty "shall rejoice and blossom as the rose." And, like an elder brother, our Republic will kindly instruct them in the principles of popular freedom. Now dawns the glorious day so often referred to in the Holy Scriptures -- the millennium morning. Talk of con­verting the nations of the earth to God while monarchy lasts! What a mistake! Never can the Prince of Peace hold universal sway upon earth until the last vestige of earthly royalty is destroyed for ever.

   But after the casting down of the thrones, the smiting of the great image, the taking of the beast and the false prophet, the reaping of the vintage and harvest of the earth, the over­throw of the dragon and his armies, the fall of the willful king, and the slaughter of the armies of God at the battle of the great day of God Almighty, that bright day shall begin, long the theme of so many promises to the good and true of every age, the hallowed hope of the Christian Church, and the song that made Judah's sacred mountains shake with joy. The cloudless splendor from "a new heaven" will beam upon the inhabitants of "a new earth" in that happy millennium --a thousand years -- when there will be but one kind of civil government known, and that will be Republicanism, and but one religion known, and that will be Christianity.

   Not that every man will be a holy man, for the final judgment will come when wise and foolish virgins, the righteous and the wicked, will both be upon earth; but a long circle of ages called the millennium -- a certain term given for an in­definite number of years -- in which the means for the eleva­tion of the world will be multiplied, commerce and trade, agriculture and manufactures, science and art, will extend, the gospel of the Son of God have universal welcome among the nations of the earth, and "nations learn war no more. "Then will the apocalyptic angel, having the everlasting gospel to preach to every nation and people and tongue, sweep the breadth of heaven, and as his silvery pinions of light shave the level horizon, every island and continent shall bow obsequious to his message: "Fear God, and give glory to him; and worship him that made heaven and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters."

   Then shall righteousness and peace among the nations walk, Messiah reign,

Home page.

First page in this series.