-the elect of God.

And still the world sleeps on, while Satan, with lightning fingers and
hellish energy, weaves over them his last fatal snare. It is time some
mighty move was made to waken the world and rouse the church to the
dangers we are in. It is time every honest heart should learn that the
only safeguard against the great deception, whose incipient and even
well-advanced workings we already behold before our eyes, is to make the
truths of God's holy and immutable word our shield and buckler.

Chapter Nine.

An Image To The Beast.

The imposing miracles wrought before the people having riveted upon them
the chains of a fatal deception, leading them to suppose they have
witnessed the great power of God, and must therefore be doing him
service, when they have only been dazed with a mighty display of Satanic
wonders, and are led captive by the devil at his will, they are prepared
to do the further bidding of the two-horned beast, which is to make an
image to the beast which had the wound by a sword and did live.

Once more we remind the reader of the impregnable strength of the
argument already presented in previous chapters, fixing the application
of this symbol to these United States. This is an established
proposition, and needs no farther support. An exposition of the
remainder of the prophecy will therefore consist chiefly of an effort to
determine what acts are to be performed by this government, and a search
for indications, if any exist, that they are about to be accomplished.
If we shall find evidences springing up on all sides, that this
government is now moving as rapidly as possible in the very direction
marked out by the prophet, though these are not necessary to establish
the application of the symbol to this government, they will serve to
stifle the last excuse of skepticism, and become to the believer an
impressive evidence of our proximity to the end; for the acts ascribed
to this symbol are but few; and while yet in mid career, he is engulfed
in the lake of fire of the last great day.

We may, however, notice in passing, another evidence that the government
symbolized by the two-horned beast is certainly a republic. This is
proved by the language used respecting the formation of the image. It
does not read that this power, as an act of imperial or kingly
authority, makes an image to the beast; but it says to them that dwell
on the earth, that is, the people occupying the territory w