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Chapter XIII.

The beast with seven heads and ten horns.

And I stood upon the sand of the sea and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having the seven heads and horns of Demos, and having nothing was bold and blasphemous, and looking on I did say, Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth, the earth which he hath established for ever, and unto them it is promised that the meek and righteous shall be recompensed therein, and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.

2. Grey-funk was the name of the beast, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and having horns, but here the metaphor is wrong, and the beast had a mouth as the mouth of a lion. Lions do not ruminate, having horns the beast would ruminate, and if true to nature the feet would be cloven. However, John faileth not, it was a beast and one man, one vote, and one day every three years gave him his power and his seat and great authority, and they called it democracy and liberalism, and government by the people, by the party and those having the innings.

3. The seventh angel wounded one of his heads, yet all the world wondered after the beast, whose deadly wound was healed; and public opinion and its accrued intelligence stood paralysed by reason of funks blue and grey, and the meek sighed and were in trouble at seeing dark gathering clouds of labour laws like unto sackcloth of hair.

4. And they worshipped them that gave power to the beast, did trades and labour councils, and their unionism and their awards, and their conciliations and their federations, and their conventions and their courts, save us from the name; saying: Who is like unto us north, south, east, and west, and who can war with us.

5. And a mouth was given unto him to torment the live and let live, the decent, the respectable, the careful, the frugal, the just, and the lowly, who were glad indeed that atmosphere remained to breathe.

6. And the beast opened his mouth to destroy the salt of the earth, but in his great heat he had forgotten that the righteous shall never be removed, nor shall the wicked inhabit the earth.

7. And it was given unto him to make war with the salt of the earth and his following of hell and death filled bulky books with vexatious laws, and they got on horseback and did ride to the devil, and rope was given unto them and they hanged them selves, saying: They would have no emigrants, for they brought down wages; nor babies, for they made apprentices. Enterprise was stifled, and bricks and things needful became dear, and with page 45 out borrowed millions they could not soar. To raise them they did pawn their unclean cage, until it was known amongst the nations as the great loan land, and here Bill said again, Not for these things was government formed.

8. And all that dwell on the earth shall worship the beast whose names are not written in Bill's book of life, wherein it was truly said that the earth, and not the heaven above the sky, was the inheritance of the saints, and the scene of God's work with the human race.

9. If any man have an ear let him hear, and in truth he shall declare that we speak but of things as they are.

10. And those worshipping the beast sought the right colour, the brand and the shade, and did confer one with the other, but their machinations, being contrary to the laws of nature, were overcome by the patience and faith of the saints.

11. And I beheld another beast rising out of the west coast, and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. O Lord, hold the pen and save me from temptation.

12. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the have-nothings and the free-dividers to wor ship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed, saying, Great is Grey.

13. And he doeth great wonders, for he alone could make fire come down from heaven to the earth in the sight of men, and his great liberal party would hold and harness all electric power from rivers running towards them from height and cloud, and not for these things was government constituted.

14. And he alone did pass laws, keep out immigrants, and per form miracles in the sight of the beast, saying: To them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast which had the wound by a sword and did live, and great power was given unto him, for there were then two jobs and but one man to do them.

15. And he gave life unto the culture shed by the beast, and as many as were not of the right sort were marked for destruction, and in their delusion they lost sight of the government of man and its great primary end.

16. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand or in their foreheads, and his inspectors and kings of one hour did hound, blight, worry, annoy, stifle, choke, and for ever damn the effort of the independent.

17. And that no man might buy or sell save he that had the mark of the beast, or had a friend at court who could pledge for the colour, the shade, and the brand.

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18. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his number is 666. Three fish-hooks catching grab, graft, and boodle, and lack-a-day the world contained no lively stones to build up a spiritual house. In it Bill was lonely, for the burden of proof fell upon him, and his unsupported paradox claimed no attention. Yet none said it was false. If true, and being new, it was important. But it was true, and was also that great battle of Armageddon. Thus Bill in his reverie stood alone; an everyday Scotsman of confined education, possessed of no general principles, and who did not pretend to be perfect, and in whom a good dram did greatly encourage. Here was that stranger in whom all nations were to be blest, and whose gospel of the seven senses and the word was destined to gather into one all the religions of the earth.